


Kingdom Hearts: The Shattering

by HarperSilvertongue



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Grief/Mourning, Kairi & Riku & Sora Friendship (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblade Wielder Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, Other, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Yes FF Characters actually play a role
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:36:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22370398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarperSilvertongue/pseuds/HarperSilvertongue
Summary: (KH3 SPOILERS)Sora has died.His heart strained with the last battle against Xehanort, he fades away from the world. Riku and Kairi refuse to grieve, traveling from world to world searching for a way to bring him back. Others have moved on, accepting the loss of their friend.But what happens when there is someone out there who mourns more than all of their companions combined? What happens when their newest adversary is not simply "someone," but the most powerful force in the universe?And what happens when that force begins to want it to "just end?"(Set after KH3 ending. No incorporation of the DLC: Remind)
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Sora/Kairi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 49





	1. Glass Heart (Intro)

**The Shattering**

_I feel breaking in my chest_

_And try my best_

_To keep the shards locked in me_

_Throwing away the key_

_You touch lingers for a while_

_I muster a laugh and an after-smile_

_To muffle chimes of shattering_

_The pieces keep scattering_

_Only for you_

_Always for you_

_Were my heart made of brass_

_And not glass_

_Perhaps I could stand the pressure_

_Perhaps I could hold it together_

_To tell you what you mean to me_

_And cast our broken shards to the sea_

_Like shooting white-painting stars_

_Lights that are only ours_

_Only for you_

_Always for you_

_But my heart keeps shattering_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The plot for this story was created well before Kingdom Hearts III DLC Remind was announced. I waited until the DLC was released to see if I wanted to incorporate any of the story elements from that. Alas, I do not. Not to say that it wasn't a good DLC, it just didn't go the direction I wanted (storywise). 
> 
> Some of what inspired me to write this was how 1) Kairi was never given a chance at being a hero, 2) RIku and Kairi never have any friendship scenes, and 3) Sora and Kairi are never given any time to develop their relationship. 
> 
> I have not played Kingdom Hearts UX, which may account for some lack of continuity in terms of the keyblade wars.


	2. A Prologue in Three Parts

**_Simple and Clean_ **

Nobody saw the heart appear in the sky above the Islands. The gentle blue light etched it into the constellations above until it replaced the stars, casting its cool glow across the foam of the crashing waves. The shimmer on the water coalesced into a white mist visible against the damp sand carved by children’s feet-- and drifted unnoticed over the sand and into the streets of a town not yet awake, but certainly not asleep.

The mist seeped between the feet of dancers still enjoying the last few notes of the night. No, not there. It passed beside young friends laughing over cards beside the golden light pouring out from a restaurant window. Not there either. It hovered above a woman with grey in her woven braids strumming a tune for the cat at her feet. Definitely no. The mist collected itself and rippled across the shingles of the houses, some newly replaced from the most recent tropical storm strewn among rotting ones that had seen too many. 

All the while, no one could see the heart in the sky. Their hearts were not strong enough. 

Few were these days.

Finding an unlit house, the mist seeped through an open window. 

Finally. Quiet. 

The mist collected at the base of the curtains, just within the sky’s glow. Like sand swept up into swirling winds, Kingdom Hearts materialized their dispersed light to a taller beam and cast a gentle blue light into the room. 

Now where was the heart they had heard calling? 

On the cabinet beneath the window lay a picture book. Kingdom Hearts poured their light over the open pages, and then shut it with a tendril of light. Even on this small world, the story was nothing more than a fairy tale, and they knew it all too well. 

Thirteen of darkness. Seven of light. The first twenty. Weapons, components of the X-blade that drove drove the Keyblade war and surrendered the world to darkness. Then the hearts of children brought light back into the world, each light birthing a smaller world into existence. Some iterations of the story spoke of a war even before that, telling of the clash between the seven light and thirteen darkness to forge the blade as the union of all hearts and worlds. 

But the Heart of all Hearts knew better. They had been there. Seen these so-called “wars” spoken of in legend. Fought in them, even. Those days were scarred into their memory, scars so deep they surpassed an ocean crevasse carved by the sea and split by the shifting earth.

There had been no war. There had been no children wishing worlds into the light. Only genocide.

Kingdom Hearts’ presence passed a crumpled blanket. A tendril of light lifted it and set it onto a nearby chair. The first twenty had not fought. They had been fought over. The entity lifted a stuffed tiger from the nest of blankets and brought it close into their warm light. How they missed them, the first twenty. Their children.

And all the others.

Each had been so full of life, so simple and clean. The memories of the first twenty running through the flower meadows came flooding back. Children of pure light playing with their siblings of pure darkness beneath the sky of Kingdom Hearts.

And then, those horrible people had to take them and turn them into that… that… _blade_ . The light pressed tighter against the stuffed tiger. The children’s laughter, giggles of joy, and nagging questions all silenced with the forging of that that _monstrosity_.

But the history books of mortals reduced their children to nothing but a single weapon, the reward of some valiant struggle. A vessel of power. Nothing but a key to the worlds. A tendril of light set the toy aside, more forcefully this time.

It was hard to let it go. They still hadn’t let it go. The scars began to ache as they drifted across the floor. They should have let the worlds die then. Then they wouldn’t have lost their other children. 358 _beautiful_ children.

All 358 over two…days? Years? Millennia? Time was inconsequential to the entity. They only understood emotions, and to an aching heart, how much different was a second to a decade?

A gentle cry came from the crib. Kingdom Hearts send their light towards the sound; they had felt the heart call again. They also sent their feelings beyond the door. The child’s mother hadn’t heard it yet. No matter: the desires of this little one called for warmth, and so the entity lifted the blanket from the chair and brought down softly into the top of the crib.

The white mists sank down beside the child, setting the blanket over the small, shivering form. A boy. A newborn, by the look of it. And now they were this close, Kingdom Hearts knew that this was definitely the heart they had felt earlier. Perhaps the child’s heart had simply been calling out for warmth, and nothing more. The entity flicked a tendril of light inches from the baby’s eyes. 

His pupils did not react to their light. But he could still see them.

Just like the others. Perhaps-

No. The entity walked away. They had sworn never again. Too many dead. Too many abused. 

The baby hiccuped and reached out towards the entity. The child’s heart said, _Please…don’t go. Hold me._

They didn’t hear him say it. The callings of the heart are not heard by any physical means, but rather felt by one’s entire being. Sweeping back to the crib, the Heart of all Hearts hovered over the child like a cloud. For a heart only a few days old, such strength. Already opening his heart to the world searching for connections.

Just like the others.

Particulates of light coalesced into the upper half of a human. They lowered their bright forming face towards the child’s. Though his brown eyes struggled to fight the sleep, the baby’s face lit up. _Hold me,_ his heart said. 

Regardless of warnings, Kingdom Hearts found themselves lifting the child up into their forming arms and rocking him. He was so beautiful. His heart was so strong. He didn’t need eyes to see the world.

Just one more.

Light, like smoke, drifted from their fingers and seeped into the child’s mouth and nose. The child scrunched his face in discomfort, but did not cry as he suckled on the light. When he had finished feeding, a deep blue flooded his eyes. His heart cried in wonder as his eyes registered light for the first time. He coughed with delight and began to reach for the glowing face with his tiny fingers.

 _Hi!_ His heart laughed. _You’re so warm!_

359.

 **_You’ll be the one_ ** _,_ they swore as they nuzzled the child’s soft head. **_You’ll be my last one._ **

**_Sanctuary_ **

Riku was unversed in the ways of romance, but even he could tell from a distance that their conversation hadn’t gone well. He had been looking away when Kairi would have shared the fruit with Sora. Intentionally, of course. Those two deserved some time together before the battle.

As Sora led Kairi to the docks, Riku followed from a distance. Their hands were close, but not touching. Kairi’s fingers tickled Sora’s knuckles. Sora’s hand flinched away. Riku narrowed his eyes. Was that supposed to be nervousness? Rejection? Just plain old surprise? He watched as Sora helped Kairi into her boat and began loosening her mooring line. Sora whistled calypso music in time with his fast-working hands.

Had they even shared the fruit?

He peeked into Kairi’s boat. The yellow of the paopu fruit was poking out of her bag. Sure enough, it had been defaced with two mirroring bites. 

Kairi beamed up at Riku. “See you two tomorrow then? Bright and early?” Her smile said reassurance, but her eyes were filled with worry. Not of sadness, worry. _“Did something happen?”_ Riku mouthed.

She shook her head. “ _No,”_ She mouthed back. _“It went well, but he’s still…you know…”_ She tilted her head towards Sora.

Sora’s hands were trembling. His fingers could not steady themselves enough to undo the mooring hitch.

“ _I’ll talk to him,”_ Riku mouthed. Kairi sighed, nodding just enough for Riku to notice. Sora tossed the line end into her boat and pushed her into the caressing waves. Kairi waved back between strokes. As Sora started for his own boat, Riku snatched his hood and dragged him back. “So?” Riku said slowly. “How did it go?”

Sora stared back innocently. “What?”

“You know: you…Kairi…You and Kairi?” Riku brought him to the front of the dock and sat him down. The red of the sunset gave Sora’s normally blue eyes a violet hue. Riku knelt down and leaned. “You and Kairi and the fruit…?” Sora turned away bashfully. _So you did share it,_ Riku thought. _Then what is bugging you?_ “You and Kairi and the fruit _and_ …?”

Sora turned back. “That’s all we did.”

He knew that. Still, he couldn’t resist a chance for a good scolding. Riku sent a side glare at Sora. “You shared a paopu fruit…and that’s it?”

“Well…um…yeah.”

Riku summoned his keyblade and began rapping the flat of his blade against Sora’s head. “You. Are. So. Dense.”

“H-hey! Cut it out!” Sora tried to bat the blade away.

“Why. Do. You. Think. I. Gave. You. Space? What. Do. You. Think. I. Was. Doing?”

Summoning his own blade, Sora blocked. “Talking to yourself? I thought you were just having an introspective moment.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Riku pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sora, you were supposed to do _more_ than that. Like, kiss her or something.” 

Sora blushed. “Woah! I am not ready for that! She didn’t lean in, so I didn’t think… I mean, don’t you think we should hold hands first before we, y’know, kiss? Like, that was a big step back there! I wasn’t prepared- expecting, I mean. Expecting. That. Just now.” He rubbed the back of his head and muttered, “I thought she had a thing for you, actually.”

Riku let a moment of silence pass before asking, “You are the biggest doofus in the world, you realize that?” Sora answered by shifting his eyes back to the sunset, sheepishly grinning. “Well, at least you’re smiling for real this time.”

“What did you just say?” Sora put his hands on his hips. “Hey, this is _me_ we’re talking about.” He laughed, smiling with all of his teeth. “I’m all smiles!”

Riku did not laugh. “They haven’t been genuine,” He said. Sora cocked his head. Riku sighed, “You stopped smiling with your eyes after the Mark of Mastery. Everyone else may not have seen it, but I know when you’re forcing it. Kairi too.”

Sora’s smile vanished. Shame and sadness took its place. “Oh,” Sora said, looking away. “Of course you’d notice.”

“Well, yeah. We’ve known each other since we were toddlers.” Riku eyed Sora’s hands before adding, “I’ve also noticed that you’ve been shaking the whole time we’ve been talking.”

Sora rammed his hands in his pockets. It didn’t help; his shoulders were quivering now. Riku placed a reassuring hand on Sora’s shoulder. “You nervous about tomorrow?”

“No.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” Riku kicked his legs out over the dock’s edge and let them dangle just above the waves. Sora looked away. _Oh, come on Sora!_ “Do you want to spar a bit to get some of the jitters out?” Sora said nothing. “Okay...do you want to talk about it?” _Please say no._ _I’m terrible at the emotional stuff._ “We could, uh, maybe make a list of things you’re afraid may happen tomorrow and… I don’t know, go through it? I know that helps some people when they have a lot of stress.” 

Sora turned back to Riku. “Look, all I fear means nothing, because it doesn’t change the fact that we’re heading to our final battle underprepared! I still don’t have the power of awakening, I am still not a keyblade master, and… and we’re expecting Kairi and Lea to just come fight with us! Like they’ve been doing it forever! They might die. _Kairi_ might die. I-” Sora put his face in his hands.

“You think you’re going to die?”

“Well… Maybe.” Sora looked out over the sea. His eyes reflected the sunset’s red as he was, “I’ve been having these weird dreams lately. I’m standing at the edge of the ocean, but it’s dried up. Out of nowhere, a black wave rush towards me. In the waves, I can see almost everyone: Goofy, Donald, Mickey, and Kairi. They’re drowning. Everyone’s struggling against the current to get to the surface. I can’t move. My legs start to sink into the sand. You stand in front of me and try to block the wave, but…you get swept up into it too. I brace myself against it, and I feel my body break apart like one of those sandcastles against the tide. A bit of me is scattered with the currents. What’s left of me…What’s left of me is pulled down into the dark waves. I want to say that I try to swim, but,” Sora let out a trembling breath. “I don’t. I just let myself sink.”

 _That’s a lot darker than I was expecting_ , Riku kept himself from saying out loud.

“I keep acting like I’m ready for tomorrow, keep telling myself that I just have to keep being positive, but I can’t. I’m scared.” Sora closed his eyes. “It’s been why I’ve been rowing over here whenever I get the chance. I kind of feel like this island—not all of the Islands, just this one in particular—is my sanctuary.” Sora took in a deep breath of the warm brackish air. “I can just look out at the endless horizon, and my fears and lies melt away.” Riku watched Sora’s trembling calm with each breath.

“Can I tell you something?” Sora asked.

“ ‘Course. That’s why I’m here.” 

“Xehanort said that my heart was a prison. I have all of those hearts inside me, trying to get out.”

“I’m pretty sure he said that to get into your head, Sora. He’s good at that, trust me. Just ignore anything that comes out of his mouth- ” 

“But he’s right.” Sora clutched at his chest. “I can feel their emotions trying to burst out. Roxas and...whoever else is in there. And before we freed Ventus, my emotions were being overridden by his. There are times that I can’t think clearly because it’s like I have so many thoughts and feelings competing against my own...My heart’s a battleground, not a prison at this point, and I’m so scared that all of that,” He motioned in little circled around his heart. “Is going to make this,” He pointed at his head. “Freeze. And freeze at the worst time tomorrow.” 

“I think you’re underestimating yourself. Don’t let him get into your head.” 

“Look, if I… if I die, will you—”

“You’re not going to die,” Riku said sharply. “You’re not allowed to say things like that.”

Sora talked over him. “Will you tell my parents? Please? Tell them everything. About the keyblades, Xehanort… everything. It’s not fair if they don’t know why their son…” The words caught in his throat and he trailed off.

 _We can’t tell anyone. We’re supposed to protect the world order,_ Riku thought. _That’s the point of wielding the keyblade, Sora._ But as Sora turned to him, Riku could see tears forming at the edges of his terrified eyes. Riku set a firm hand on Sora’s shoulder. “Okay. It’s a promise. But,” He gently shook Sora. “You have to make my job easy and not die.”

Sora forced a laugh. 

“Look,” Riku held out his hand. “We’re going to be fine. And if anything happens, I go out first. Deal?”

“That’s not very comforting.”

“I’m trying to say I’ll protect you, you dingus.”

Sora laughed, for real this time. Their hands spliced. “Age before beauty,” Sora said.

“Hey.”

“It’s true!”

They squeezed their hands together until their fingers turned white. 

_“Pull it together, Sora!”_

Riku would remember that promise as he watched Sora fall to his knees, his eyes glazed over. Tears began to fall as Sora watched the waves of heartless wash away his friends from the Keyblade Graveyard’s sands. His nightmares were taking shape. He had failed everyone. 

_“Sora, you don’t believe that.”_

Riku gripped the hilt of his keyblade as he stood between the ocean of heartless and Sora. The torrent of shadows dove towards the two of them. Riku plunged his blade into it, parting the darkness while licks of shadow crept down his hand and began to tear at his body. As he screamed against the strain, his heart felt strangely at peace. 

He would go first. 

**_Face My Fears_ **

The heartless man was toying with her. 

Kairi pushed herself up from the dirt and spat out a mouthful of dust. She tasted iron between her teeth. Oh, come on! She had been so close that time! Kairi used her keyblade to steady herself to her feet. Almost there. She just had to-

A red flash, this time from her left. Kairi barely had time to block Xehanort’s oncoming strike before she was hurtling back over the rocks. She skipped a few times on her back and sides before her fingers managed to dig into the dirt and she slid to a stop. 

Kairi shakily got to her feet, wiping her bleeding nose and smearing more dirt across her face. This was worse than trying to swim against a riptide back home.

Xehanort let his keyblade rest at his side as he sauntered towards her. “Very admirable, princess,” He chuckled. “You’re putting up more of a fight than I imagined. But I begin to tire facing a neophyte.” 

Kairi raised her keyblade once more. “On yeah? Well...Well, at least I’m not old!” She cringed inwardly. Her comebacks were deteriorating in quality. 

_“Let me face him, Axel. You have to help me face him no matter what.”_

_“I’ll try, but understand it’ll be tough. There’s no way he’s going to come down to the battlefield, even if things go bad for him.”_

_“I know. But I don’t need him to come to me, remember? I need to come to him.”_

_“You mean, you’re just going to let him… take you?”_

_“He’s going to go after me anyway. Might as well use that to our advantage, right?”_

_“They’re not going to like this, you know. No one likes someone else to be the martyr.”_

_“This is what I choose, Axel. Nobody else gets a say in it, because nobody else is going to know. Especially Sora.”_

Looking back on it, Kairi wished she had come up with a better “Plan B,” one that didn’t involve her going toe-to-toe with Xehanort for what felt like an hour. She had originally estimated the fight to take only a few minutes. But Axel had been right: what she had in defense, she severely lacked in offense. She wished she had sparred with Sora before all of this; he could have simulated wave after wave of magical attacks, like the spheres of electricity Xehanort conjured up around Kairi. Kairi brought up another shield against the blinding blast.

A shadow fell on Kairi as she blinked away the light spots in her vision. Xehanort stood before her and raised his keyblade. “I’ll enjoy watching you cry all of your tears once I’ve finished with you.” He brought his blade down.

Kairi caught the blade on hers, just like Sora had taught her. Her knees buckled under the pressure. “You’re not going to get a drop from me, you monster,” she hissed. 

Xehanort shoved her back. “Perhaps,” He said. “But if you were to cry and beg for mercy, perhaps I could spare you in my new world. Your powers as a Princess of Heart would be invaluable.” He sliced his keyblade up towards the swirling clouds above and jets of fire fired out in all directions.

Kairi ran along the edge of the pillar out of their paths. “I made a promise to protect someone,” She said, resetting her stance. “And I’m not about to stop just because you offered ‘mercy’.” _Come on,_ she thought. _I just need one opening. Where is it?_

“Sora, I presume?” Xehanort shook his head. “For someone with much percipience, such folly. Do you believe that it is love you feel, that drives your every strike?” His keyblade readied once more. A smirk slid across Xehanort’s lips. “I would love to see your heart break once I finish him. That is, if you survive that long.” 

_He’s fast. I need higher ground._ She eyed Xehanort, and then glanced at the edge of the pillar. _He hasn’t been keen on protecting the edge. Maybe I can change our fight to a larger place, so I’m not so confined to just this platform. Should I take the leap-?_ Kairi’s heart dropped into her stomach as she peeked over the edge nearest her and realized how high up they were. A mile or two down, at least. _Nope. Definitely not leaping over that. Definitely was not taught how to survive that._

“Going somewhere, princess?” Another blast, this time at Kairi’s head. She ducked, and returned the favor with a small fireball. She couldn’t afford to use up too much magic. Not yet. 

Another flash, this time of yellow. Kairi struck down two of the incoming javelins before rolling out from under the others flying in from all sides. It wouldn’t be long “…I’m almost there…” Kairi said between labored breaths. “Give me an opening. I only need one…Just one.” 

Xehanort sneered and leveled his free hand towards her. Ripples of fire began to form out and around his fingers. 

_There._

Kairi unclipped a keychain from her belt and attached it onto the end of her blade as she raced in for her strike. She felt her legs weaken as she used up a _teleport_ spell, but she still had enough. Xehanort frowned; Kairi was coming in too far to his right. She would miss any vital areas and would simply brush past his hand. 

Kairi felt the tip of her blade contact. A single hit. She skidded to a halt and faced Xehanort once more. 

Xehanort looked down at his hand, at the single bead of red forming at the tip of his finger. No other wound. He laughed, “You’re a fool, child. All of that, for a single prick?” 

Kairi smiled back through the pain. “Yeah. And that’s all I needed.” She raised her keyblade to the sky. But the flora and fauna adorning her blade had been replaced by woven red roses that melded into a hilt of raven feathers. Her keychain, the sharpened spindle of a spinning wheel. Wisps of sickly green evaporated from the keyblade’s tip.

 **“** **_You’re final blow against Sora will fail, and shall strike you down instead.”_ **

The words tasted like ashes as she spoke them. A simple curse, but one with many interpretations and only one outcome. As Lea had said, “Simplicity is deadly.” 

Her right hand burned. She winced as it began to smolder and blacken down to her wrist. It didn’t matter. Sora would be safe. “This one’s for you, Sora-” 

Suddenly, all of her energy left her from the spell’s completion. Kairi’s vision blurred and she struggled to stay standing. Through her double vision, Kairi saw Xehanort’s face contort in fury. Then he was right before her. She barely saw the blur of his hand before Xehanort slammed her against the ground. Again. And again. And again. 

Eventually, the beatings stopped. Xehanort stood over her, a towering figure against the cutting light of Kingdom Hearts above. He pressed his Keyblade against her throat. “A foolish move. You’re worth more to me alive before you did that. But now I’ve decided to make you just another pawn to sacrifice.” He knelt down towards her face and whispered, “But at least you’ll be sufficient motivation for your dear friend.” 

Kairi took a deep breath, and through her teeth hissed, “...Checkmate.” 

Xehanort sneered back, and placed a hand over her. As he lifted his hand, Kairi began to levitate towards it like a ragdoll led on a noose. 

She couldn’t move. Her bruised arms and legs had given out. But she didn’t care; she’d beaten Xehanort. Sora would survive. Sora would win. They had nothing to lose now. And that was all that mattered. 

Through her dazed state, Kairi could hear Xehanort address Sora over the edge. She struggled to open her eyes. How close was he? Was Riku with him? A stream of violet into the sky, and Kairi suddenly felt the warm glow of Kingdom Hearts against her skin. It felt...sad.

She was being dragged through the air now. She was hanging over the edge. Someone was calling her from below...Sora’s voice. Kairi struggled to keep her eyes open. She couldn’t move, but she felt no fear. Sora was going to be okay now, no matter what Xehanort did to her. 

A weak smile crossed her lips. What a bittersweet taste this victory was. 

As Xehanort brought his blade across her back, the last thing she heard was Sora screaming out her name. 

_This time, I’ll save you, Sora._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This section is a bit more dream-like then the rest of the story. It's supposed to represent the prologues that you get at the beginning of each numbered title: Part 1 is where you learn how to walk/run/interact, part 2 is where you answer the questions that determine how you level up or your base stats, and part 3 is where you fight the final boss tutorial. 
> 
> And what did Kairi do with that new keyblade and spell? I'm not telling... yet :) I just wanted her to have a more heroic end than what she got in KH3, and I also figured it would be cool if I had her be responsible for the "Donald+Goofy" final attack in the battle against Xehanort.
> 
> Also, bonus points for those who can figure out what I snuck into this prologue!
> 
> EDIT 10.18.20: I altered the portion of this chapter referring to little Sora as blind. I am cognizant of the negative connotation coming from the issue of "magically curing blindness" in fiction, and my original intent was to portray Kingdom Hearts as misunderstanding the use of the word "blind," as future chapters were meant to delve into what actually is happening (Sora is not "clinically blind," for lack of a better term. His eyes can't react to light, yes, but he isn't really "blind"). However, it is taking me much longer to put up chapters (thanks COVID and school), and the explanation won't be up for a while. So, I am altering to more accurately represent what is going on and not proliferate the negative trope of curing blindness in this manner.


	3. The Calm Before the Storm

The pen passed through his fingers and clattered across his desk. 

Sora instinctively pulled his hand back. It had happened again. And this time within a few minutes. 

Still, he had to finish. Sora let himself have two deep breaths before he reached for his pen. Picking it up with his thumb and ring finger didn’t work anymore. His middle and index fingers did no better. Sora brought his hands up to the afternoon sunlight streaming through his window. 

He could see the blue of the sky through his hand. 

Sora stared at his hand and let out a shaky breath. He was disappearing.. 

Then again, he figured as he began to unstrap his armband, at least it was only his one hand right now. Plus, the process was still going slow—

Sora cried out in horror. Light phased through everything up to his elbow. 

A knock on his door, followed by a concerned, “Sora?”

Sora shoved his armband back over his spectral wrist. “Nothing! Nothing, I- I hit my funny bone on my chair. Whacked it real good. Just...Ignore me!”

“You sure?” 

“I’m fine! Ignore me!” Sora flexed his fading wrist. The clothes Yen Sid had given him were still holding their form. If he had them on during his final moments, would they disappear along with him? 

How long did he have?

 _Not long_ , Yen Sid had said. It could take weeks, or months, but his body would eventually disappear. 

Was there any way to stop it? 

_No_ , Yen Sid had said. Nothing could reverse the effects of overusing the Power of Waking. 

Sora wiped at his eyes with his good hand. Everyone had pushed for him to gain the Power of Waking, why hadn’t someone told him overusing it would make him disappear? He wanted to tell someone, but everyone was so happy… Everyone had been saved. The worlds had been saved. Even Naminé had been saved thanks to the spare replica body. Roxas had his own life now. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus were freed from Xehanort’s control. Riku had never been happier. Kairi had even started to flirt with him, leaving little notes with flowers, giggling more often…

He would tell them after. They deserved to know, but it was better for now if they could be happy. Just a little bit longer.

Sora grabbed the pen with his left hand and tried to finish the sentence. “ _I wish we could have at least tried to sail ogf tle Lzie…”_ It was completely illegible. He sighed heavily and let his forehead fall to his desk. _Thump_. Maybe this was a problem to fix after everyone left tonight. Maybe his hand would fix itself and he could fix his letters to Riku and Kairi. 

_Speaking of which, they should be here any minute now_ , Sora thought as he reached into his pockets. _Why hadn’t they called on the_ \-- 

The gummiphone was gone. 

Panic overtook Sora, followed by irritation, and then anger. Rising from his chair, he yelled, “EN!” 

****

“Riku!” 

Kairi’s voice snapped Riku out of his daydream. He glanced over his shoulder to see Kairi jogging towards him, the glare of the ocean and sand behind her making her red hair shine like a ruby as she reached him. “What are you doing here?” Riku asked.

Kairi let out a few stabilizing breaths. “Took the words right out of my mouth. It’s not everyday I find you lounging by the beach. And weren’t you picking up people for this evening?”

“I already did. Roxas and his friends are taking a quick walk near the docks while Terra and Ven are helping Naminé purchase some new pens and sketchbooks. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy will come later in their own ship. And Aqua,” Riku held up his gummiphone. “Said that she wanted to check in on a few worlds before tonight, so she’s supposed to come in just now. I figured since I’ve already played chaperone to everyone else, I could get her.” 

Holding up her gummiphone as well, Kairi displayed Aqua’s message. “Actually, I’m here for the same reason. I thought you were still flying about so I thought I’d pick her up first and Sora next.” 

“Great minds think alike.” He paused. “Wait, what was that about me not coming by the beach? I come here all the time.” 

“What I mean is: it’s not everyday you’re at the beach and not at the edge, gazing pensively at the endless horizon.” Kairi let her voice drop into a somber droll and scrunched her face in painfully pensive thought. “So much water… Where does it go? Are there other worlds out there? And can we get there with just an egg and a few small fish?”

“You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”

Kairi giggled. “Nope.”

Both gummiphones buzzed. 

**_Aqua_ ** **:** **_I am somewhere in town. I have been trying to find the meet-up spot, but I think I keep getting turned around._ **

“That’s impressive,” Riku mumbled. “She’s been to how many worlds? And _this_ small one the one she gets lost in?”

“In her defense, Aqua said she’s only been here one other time.”

They began sauntering back towards the edge of town. “For the record, Kairi: it wasn’t just an egg and fish.”

“You’re right. We had a coconut. Rations for months.”

“And mushrooms.”

“Again, you’re not proving me wrong.”

The verbal jousting continued until they reached the edge of the shopping district. Fresh citrus tickled the air and tangled itself among the scent of harvested mollusks and brackish fish skin. A street musician played the heartbeat of the market with her steel drums while folks hunting for their groceries strode to the rhythm. A trio of children chased a seagull into a palm tree, the bird calling out in objection as it flew up. Vendors selling freshly flayed marlin and cleaned conch called out to Riku and Kairi, promising “unforgettable prices! Just for today! Get them before they disappear!” 

“Is that her?” Kairi asked, gesturing towards the far end of the market.

Riku stopped. From a distance, he could make out the bright orange jacket of a meter maid leading a blue-haired woman down the street. The meter maid must have caught sight of him, because she waved and then pointed towards him. Riku could only assume she was telling the “tourist” beside her that “that nice boy right over there should be able to help you!”

Normally at this point, Riku would have ducked into a nearby stall; he hated being “voluntold” to give free tours to tourists (no matter how many times he had told her, that woman always managed to get him roped into being an unofficial host). But this was no tourist: this was a lost Aqua. 

As the keyblade master ran to greet them, Kairi crossed her arms behind her back and rocked back onto her heels, “Did you just get here, or have you been wandering for a while?” 

“Not too long,” Aqua said. “Sorry I couldn’t find our meeting spot. I didn’t know it was possible to get turned around in such a small town, but I managed to wander all over the place for… longer than I care to admit. Luckily, that kind meter maid pointed me in the right direction.” She paused. “Speaking of which, I didn’t know this world had cars…”

“More of a thing on the bigger islands, but yeah.” Riku said while Aqua came up beside him and matched his stride. “Here, they’re mostly used by people who live on the north end of the Island, or used to move food and merchandise between the different stores. So, the meter maid is kind of a useless job-”

Kairi cut him off. “Unless you take into account how few parking spaces there actually are, and how many people don’t follow the time limits, and how many small companies fight for parking spots on the streets, and how many people illegally park, and I could go on.” She narrowed her eyes at Riku. “My mom is the city mayor; she would consider that one of the more important jobs of a police officer, _despite_ how seemingly lackluster it is.” 

Riku rolled his eyes. “Agree to disagree.” 

Aqua looked back and forth between them. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know I was bringing up a controversial subject.”

“It’s not,” The two young keyblade wielders said simultaneously as they shot each other synchronized glares. 

They wandered past the stalls to the edge of the town, where the paved streets melded into the worn sand pathways winding through silver and red flowers that rose above the bushes like welcoming waves. In the distance, the children’s island interrupted the horizon. They were moving in the opposite direction of the docks. “Where are we going?” Aqua asked once they passed a dozen homes.

“To Sora’s,” Riku said, pointing two houses down. Their destination would have camouflaged perfectly with the other houses had it not been for the extravagant garden out front. The yellows and reds and oranges and violets painted the sides of the walkway. Wooden poles were placed between every distinct grouping, with hanging plants that seemed to pour out even more color into the scene with their long petals and vines. The flora and fauna motif even carried up to the door, where a series of bouquets had been placed around the entry mat.

Aqua let her fingers dance along the tips of the flowers beneath the doorbell. “So healthy and bright...Sora’s mother keeps a beautiful garden.” 

Kairi and Riku looked at Aqua, variations of confusion showing on their faces. “Mother?” They both said as the door opened.

On the other side of the door stood a man adorned with a palm green apron wrapped around his waist, ordering onlookers to _KISS THE COOK_. The man, tall with tawny brown skin, was thin for his age, so much so that his shirt seemed to fall over his shoulders like a cloth over a table’s edge. He tried to wipe red filling off his cheeks, instead streaking it right below his good eye. Flour decorated his face, hair, and hands, which the man gingerly started to rub off with the rim of his apron. It was the hair Riku could tell Aqua was beginning to fixate on. Shaggy? Yes. Spikey? Hardly.

He looked, plainly speaking, like everything Sora wasn’t. 

Aqua cast a worried glance at the other two. “Are we at the wrong house?” she mouthed. 

And then the man beamed, and you could see Sora in his smile. “Riku! Kairi! What a surprise!” He caught sight of Aqua. “Oh, hello! And who might you be? New friend?”

“Haru, meet Aqua.” Riku said. Aqua gave a hesitant wave. 

“Aqua...A-ke-wa...” The man, Haru, let the name play around on his tongue. He tugged on the edge of his apron. “Sorry, it’s just that I've never heard of folks with a name quite like that before. Are you a tourist, or do you live on the other side of the island?” 

“She’s from the Big Island,” Kairi said. “Just here for a few days of vacation. We’re showing her around.”

Haru perked up with fascination. “From the Big Island? Well now, that’s not something you see every day! You must be the adventurous type to travel so far south down the archipelago.” He beckoned them in. “Make yourselves at home. You’re here to pick up Sora for the evening’s get-together, I assume? He’s still upstairs, but he should be down any minute.” Haru hurried into the kitchen, and then poked his head back into view. “Can I get you something while you wait? Tea? Coffee? Water? I have empanadas cooking that’ll be ready in a bit…”

“No thanks,” Aqua said. The second Haru had slipped back out of sight, Aqua turned to Riku, “I’m sorry, but who is that exactly?” 

Riku raised an eyebrow. “That’s Sora’s dad...Isn’t it a little obvious?” 

Aqua jerked her thumb towards Haru’s humming from the kitchen. “His _dad_?” 

Kairi laughed. “Oh right! We forgot to tell you; Sora’s adopted.”

“Yeah, but he has been since he was, what, three?” Riku shrugged. “Since before I can remember.”

Kairi patted Riku’s shoulder. “Believe it or not, good ol’ keyblade master here is the oddball among the three of us, the only one who isn’t adopted!” 

“Way to rub it in.”

Kairi started to retort, but their conversation was interrupted by the patter of feet fleeing down the stairs. A young girl in a maroon vest and white t-shirt hurried down. Her black headphones, which she usually wore tightly over her ears, bounced loosely around her neck. Even with a brief glance, anyone could tell that she was Haru’s daughter, although the curl in her hair and curve of her nose was definitely inherited from her mom. Despite being three years younger than Riku, she was starting to reach him in height, which Riku knew was still a soft spot for Sora and was considered a “forbidden topic” during their conversations. The girl froze at the base of the stairs, noticing Aqua for the first time. Her eyes scanned every inch of Aqua, aside from Aqua’s eyes; she never made eye contact if possible. 

In her hands, she held what looked eerily similar to Sora’s gummiphone. 

“Hi En,” Riku said.

“EN!” A storm of footsteps thundered upstairs, followed the crash of a door opening. Sora appeared at the top of the stairway. “EN! YOU. ARE. _DEAD_!” He yelled while descending at full speed. 

En spun towards the safety of the kitchen and tried to sprint. Sora was one step ahead of her; he vaulted over the railing and tackled En to the carpet. They landed, a tangle of punches, kicks, and yells. “Give it back!” Sora demanded, turning En onto her stomach and sitting on top of her. He struggled to catch her flailing wrists with one hand. 

En kicked her heels into his back. “OFF!” She screamed. 

“You know you’re not supposed to go into my room! Give it back!”

“OFF! OW!” 

Sora slipped his foot over her head, which also happened to trap the arm holding the phone. He ripped it from her grasp. “Ha! Got it!” He slid the phone into his pocket, right as En dug her elbow into the inside of his thigh. Sora reeled backwards. En slipped out from beneath him and went for the headlock. Sora put her on her back, licked his finger, and stuck it in her ear. She screamed.

A _clang_ from the kitchen, and then Haru was hurrying out into the hallway. “Sora! En! That’s enough!” He pulled En away from Sora, who was messaging his trachea. En kicked out at Sora. “ _Behave_. We have guests here, for crying out loud!” 

“She stole my stuff!” Sora said. 

“OW!” En snapped. She dug her finger into her spit lined ear. “Jerk.” 

“I..” Haru smiled weakly at the onlookers. “Um… One second?” He ushered his children into the kitchen. He closed the door behind them, laughing nervously, “Teenagers, you know? Gotta love ‘em…”

To the music of muffled lecturing and arguing, Aqua asked, “Is that his little sister, I take it?” Kairi nodded. “Does this happen often?” Kairi nodded again. 

Riku waited until he heard the voices in the kitchen die back down to friendly murmurs before he decided to check in on them. He opened the door and saw that En was off near the sink, rocking slightly and pouting, while Sora was debating with his dad with a tray of oven-fresh empanadas between them. “Ok, but if I walked into her room and stole her seashell collection, you’d give me a harsher punishment,” Sora was saying as Riku entered. “En is the one who stole from my room, she should get more than a warning.” 

“Sora, you-” Haru accidentally burned his right hand on the tray and he snatched it to his chest. “Ow! Dumb blind spot! Anyway, you wouldn’t have been suplexed onto the ground if your roles were switched.”

Sora shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. “I didn’t suplex her, dad.”

“Not my point. My point is- Riku, could you try one of these for me and tell me if the seasoning’s off?-that En already was punished enough with you jumping on her from the stairs. Which could have seriously hurt her, by the way. We don’t throw punches or kicks in this house.” Sora began to protest. Haru pointed his welting finger at him. “You’re very close to being ‘re-grounded’ for this evening, Sora.” 

En stuck her tongue out at Sora. “En, don’t forget you’re close to losing your music privileges for the rest of the day,” Haru reminded her. She sucked it back in. “Now, make up, you two.” En and Sora rolled their eyes. “ _Apologize.”_

Riku bit into his still-hot empanada while he watched the begrudging murmurs of “sorry” between the two siblings. Kairi’s slender fingers tapped him on the shoulders. “What did I miss, and how did you get one of those?” She whispered. 

“Their usual loving sibling relationship, and I think you can just take one.” Riku took another bite of his pastry. “Skimpy on the salt, but still good.” Kairi started to creep into the room and slowly reach behind Sora for her own pastry.

“Can…” En rubbed her arm. “Can I come? To the party?” 

Uneasy silence fell over the room. Haru looked at the other teenagers expectantly. Sora massaged the back of his neck with one hand and said, “Weeeeell… There’s going to be a lot of new people there. And it’s going to be loud. Like, _really_ loud.” 

En kept rocking, her eyes glued to the tiles. “I have my headphones. I just got the sound cancelling ones.” 

Kairi and Riku exchanged quick glances as Sora continued, “En, we all know you don’t like big crowds or meeting lots of new people. And you _hate_ having to deal with both. Look, how about we plan on having a fun night out together next week, just you, me, Riku, and Kairi?” 

Haru coughed loudly. 

“Ok, maybe at the end of this month when mom doesn’t have me ‘grounded for life.’ But seriously, En. We’ll do another night. Just not this one. I promise.” 

En bit back tears. “No. You’re avoiding me.” 

Sora winced under the disapproving glare of his father. “No! We’re not! I swear, I just don’t want-” En turned away and began retreating into the dining room. Sora sighed. “That came out wrong… One sec,” He said as he passed Kairi and Riku after En. “En? En, hold up! I promise we’ll go out another night!”

“Lair!” 

Their voices trailed off into arguing whispers from the dining room. Kairi slowly finished reaching for a pastry and began to nibble on it, making it last as long as she could. Riku pretended he had found fascinating patterns on the ceiling. Haru let out a long sigh through his nose. 

“Hello?” The voice of Sora’s mother came from the front door, followed by Aqua’s surprised yelp. “Who are you?” 

“I...I…” Aqua stuttered. 

“Are you here to see my husband?”

“No!” 

Riku excused himself back into the entrance. Aqua had her back to the stairs, flustered and desperately trying to form a sentence. Sora’s mom, on the other hand, looked as she always did: perpetually irked. 

She must have just come back from a meeting; Sora’s mother was dressed in a sharp blue dress and jade jewelry that seemed to glow against her dark umber skin. Her hair wove into twist braids that coalesced into a tight bun held by a ribbon. Riku had always considered her to be a placid woman, but today she looked dressed to either sue you or put you in a headlock with her toned unsleeved arms, all while dressed to the nines. 

Sora’s mom arched an unimpressed eyebrow as she said flatly, “I meant as a patient, but I’m guessing that’s also a ‘no.’” Ignoring Aqua’s flabbergasted stuttering, Sora’s mom turned to Riku. “She’s with you, I take it?” 

“Yes. Aqua, meet Aki.” He gestured back and forth. “Aki, Aqua. And she’s not here for a therapy consultation or anything, we’re just picking up Sora.”

Aki let her purse slip from her shoulder into her hand. “Sorry, but last I checked, Sora was grounded for going out without our permission for the past, I don’t know… _month_.”

Sora called out from the kitchen, “Dad ungrounded me for the day!” 

Aki scowled this time: really scowled. Crossing her arms behind her head as she pondered Sora’s words, Aki muttured, “I have no idea what is going on, but okay? He’s apparently ‘ungrounded’? Hold on…” She tossed her purse to the side and went straight into the kitchen. “Haru, what happened?” 

A long, tense pause. Even Sora and En had halted in their sibling quarrel. Haru coughed out, “...Um… He said that he and his friends were going to have a get-together and… you know…”

“Sweetheart, that destroys the purpose of grounding.” 

“He’ll be grounded afterwards! Double grounded, actually.”

“ _Haru.”_

“I have a very good reason, I swear!...You look very beautiful today?”

“Thank you. I just had a meeting with Shinra Power. But don’t think flattery will distract me. Do tell what your ‘very good reason’ was.” 

Sora rapidly exited the kitchen, Kairi right at his heels and checking nervously over her shoulders. “Leaving. We’re leaving,” Sora mouthed to Riku. Riku stuffed the last of his pastry into his mouth and nodded earnestly. 

“What?” Aqua asked. 

“Before mom changes dad’s mind, let’s go-go-go!” Sora gently pushed Aqua out the door with his left hand, his pocketed hand waving Riku and Kairi to move, _now_. 

It wasn’t until they were three houses away that they finally slowed to a conversational pace. “She seemed really angry with me,” Aqua murmured. 

Sora snorted. “No, that’s just her. Dad calls it her ‘resting grump face.’ You’d know if she was angry. Her temper rivals Donald’s.” 

“If she ever gets angry, that is,” Kairi said.

“She can,” Riku and Sora said together, both remembering the time they nearly set the deck on fire with their homemade fireworks show...or the time when they accidentally used all of Aki’s accounting notes as scrap paper for their raft designs. 

Riku glanced over to Sora. “You know, I think everyone would have been fine with En. And it’s not such a big crowd. You’re not giving her enough credit.”

Sora held up a single hand and counted, “Three reasons: Goofy, Donald, and the King.” 

“Ah.” Riku had completely forgotten about that. It would be hard to explain the anthropomorphic dog, duck, and mouse to Sora’s sister without unraveling the “world order” they were sworn to maintain. In most worlds, the denizens would rarely bat an eye at the trio’s presence (most likely due to Donald’s magic)… but no one had tested if that held true on Destiny Islands, and Riku was not eager to test that with En. 

Kairi started running ahead. “Come on, you guys! Race you to the boats!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologize for the long wait between posts. Finals, lab, and capstone got in the way of completing a decent draft after I initially posted. 
> 
> Some things I want to clarify: 
> 
> 1) I like to think Destiny Islands functions like Hawaii, where there are most definitely cars and technology abound.
> 
> 2) Is En autistic? Yes. 100% yes. I didn’t get to do much with her this chapter simply because there is so much to cover, and there will be more opportunities to see her. Why do I have an autistic character? It’s because when I was creating her character, I was researching for my DnD game in which my group meets an autistic NPC. It was during this time that I was creating En, and from there her autism just sort of naturally came as part of her character. 
> 
> 3) Why does Sora have a little sister? Did you see how he interacted with Boo in Monster's Inc world? He's totally a big brother!
> 
> 4) Why is Sora adopted? That’s something that became part of my headcanon a few years after KH2 came out. There’s no particular “why” about it other than giving him that little backstory fact made Sora a little more interesting for me. 
> 
> 5) My head cannon for Destiny Islands is that this world is a conglomeration of many island nations. Sora’s dad is meant to be from the Philippines, and Sora’s mom is supposed to be from Madagascar. (Obviously they aren't actually from those nations since those nations don't exist on Destiny Islands, but you get the idea) I like to think Riku and Sora are both of Japanese descent. Even thought Kairi came from a different world, I like to think she is part Irish-equivalent.


	4. Unnoticed

Finally.

Peace.

Kingdom Hearts wandered wearily through their realm, struggling to retain form. Their light flickered above the mirror floor reflecting the cloud painted sky above. Their humanoid shape would crumple to the floor every few guiding steps, and they would collapse into a clouded mist of blue, like disturbed sand at the bottom of a lake. Focusing, Kingdom Hearts would weave their light back together into a head and torso. Eventually, they gave up on maintaining their legs and let their lower half remain mist. 

After almost 15 years... _ Freedom _ . 

They stretched their arms like wings and let the vastness of their realm fill their senses. The shackles Xehanort had begun to place on them nearly two decades ago were no more. They could exist without pain. Kingdom Hearts let themselves take a deep, unrestrained breath in. Peace. Freedom.

And they had not lost their child. 

Kingdom Hearts let clear tears fall down their cheeks. The droplets dissolved near the floor, joining the mist moving across this vast space. They had done it. A keyblade war finished, and they had kept their child safe. Alive. Hidden.

Kingdom Hearts raised a partially formed hand and a throne melted up out of the mirror floor. They let themselves fall into the throne and reevaluated their feelings. 

No, not hidden.  _ Mostly _ hidden. But alive, and that was all that mattered. 

Where was he?

Relief washed away centuries of failure as they reached out to that little Island world and felt the pulse of their child’s heart. He was with friends. Good. Another pulse revealed that his heart was still slightly unstable, but that was to be expected with the Power of Calling. Children before him had used it, and their hearts were always unstable for quite a while after; however, their hearts had recovered relatively quickly. 

Kingdom Hearts tried once more to reach out to his heart, but as all the times before, their power was still too weak to do much else beyond sensing his presence. The Heart of All Hearts cursed that wretched man, Xehanort. Such sustained abuse of their power had drained them. But as long as their child did not use the Power of Calling again, he should remain stable long enough for Kingdom Hearts to regain enough strength and heal his heart. 

They tried to extend their power once more. Still not strong enough. 

Kingdom Hearts leaned back into their throne. All they could do now was rest and wait. 

****

Kairi sprinted ahead of the boys. With every step, she was acutely aware of her right hand as each step jostled her bracelets against the rugged skin beneath it. Without the presence of the rose keyblade, her hand appeared normal and soft. But beneath this illusion, Kairi knew her hand had darkened to an obsidian color and texture. When she had brought out that particular keyblade once again just as a test, the illusion dropped to show the true nature of her hand.

But as long as she never had to use that blade again, that’s as far as it would go. Just her hand. And if a dark, encrusted hand was the price to pay for Xehanort’s defeat, then it was worth it. 

Riku had decided to start racing; Kairi could hear his pace increase behind her in the crunching sand. Never could resist a race, that kid. She broke into a dash like she was in the last few meters of a track race. Riku was still meters behind her as she reached the fence bordering the beach. He slid past the makeshift finish line. “No fair,” He said. “You had a head start.” Kairi stuck her tongue out at him. He answered in kind. 

They both suddenly realized Sora had not participated in their race. Odd, but they soon saw that he was still back with Aqua. Riku decided to rejoin the rest of the party at the water’s edge while Kairi chose to wait. 

Sora walked beside Aqua, telling what Kairi could only assume was the story of his adoption. He had his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he confirmed that no, he didn’t remember his birth parents, and no, he didn’t really have any reason to find them. “...And I’m perfectly happy with just having my parents and sister as my family. Kinda like Kairi.” He nodded towards her as they approached.

“No true,” Kairi said. “I would like to know who my original parents are just because no one has  _ any _ idea of who they are. I think-” Kairi paused as she looked ahead. “What. Is.  _ He _ doing here?” She said slowly.

Sora followed her gaze to the large gathering at the docks. Gathering above the boats, Roxas and Xion were peering through Naminé’s new sketchbook, which she had already begun to fill with colorful impressions of trees and seagulls. Hayner, Pence and Olette were laughing alongside with Goofy and Donald. Next to Riku’s boat stood Axel, talking to... Isa? Sora grimaced. “Oh right. Riku said he was coming.”

“ _ Why _ ?”

“Apparently, he and Axel are dating, and...you know… it’d be kinda rude not to let him come...” Sora let the sentence trail off. 

“I’m sorry, I know you’re all about forgiving folks and everything...  _ but _ ,” Kairi waved in frustration towards Isa. “He was practically Xehanort’s right hand man! He tried to kill us multiple times! And he imprisoned me!  _ Remember? _ ” Aqua took this as her cue to rejoin Ven and Terra. 

Riku paused in his conversation with Terra and noticed Kairi’s disapproving glare. “Sorry!” He mouthed, waving helplessly between Axel and Isa.

Kairi clenched her fists. “Okay, ‘yay’ that they are dating, but that doesn’t actually make me feel any better about the guy.” 

“He’s not much different than Axel if you think about it-”

“Axel actually switched sides, Sora.” 

“Isa was a double agent,” Riku said, coming over to them. “Look, you don’t have to interact with him the whole time. Avoid him the whole time, if you have to. And from what Roxas told me, he’s actually a pretty cool guy.” Kairi rolled her eyes, feigning joy from this news. 

“Kairi,” Sora and Riku scolded together.

“Forgive me for not being ecstatic about every redeemed villain in our lives.” Kairi said. “We can’t all be like Sora.” 

“...Is that a complement?” Sora asked hesitantly. “Or an insult?”

“Complement,” said Riku. “Trust me. It’s a complement.” 

“It is a complement,” said Kairi. “But even with Sora’s stamp of approval, he’s not worth my forgivness. Oh, don’t look at me like that. Would you both suddenly trust Xehanort if he walked up to us and said, ‘Forgive me, but I have made some terrible mistakes. Please let me off the hook because I show remorse’?” 

“Weeeeeell,” Sora began. He looked away a little shamefully. “I’d have some mixed feelings, for sure…” 

Riku sighed. “Okay, okay. I see your point. Look, let’s just get everyone in the boats. Sora, round up the twilight gang. Kairi, just avoid Isa for now. It’s just for one night, and it’ll probably be the last time you ever have to see him.” He cut Kairi’s protests off. “Just be a good hostess for now, please? I promise I will make it up to you.” 

Kairi slipped on her best hostess smile and dutifully started walking towards the group. Behind her, she could hear Sora say, “Dude, he was terrible to her. Show a bit more empathy.” She could imagine Riku mouthing something back about how he was just trying to get this whole event to go off without a hitch. Planning stuff always stressed Riku out more than he would admit. 

Fine. She’d do it for Riku. Just this once. 

Sora ran past her to join Donald and Goofy, and they all burst into smiles as he came into their little circle. Once the conversations had started to die down, Kairi called out, “Looks like everyone is here! Who wants to ride with who?”

“I’m with Roxas and the gang!” Xion said, waving her hand high. 

Hayner and Pence were already fighting over the oars. Sora gave a nervous smile to Riku and Kairi. “I...guess I’ll be taking a full boat then. We’ll see how fast they can figure out stroke coordination.” 

Axel nodded towards Kairi. “I’ll be going with princess here. Care to join, your majesty, Donald, and Goofy?” Isa stepped up beside Axel to join this crew. Kairi struggled to hold her smile. 

“And I’ll take Naminé and Aqua’s crew,” Riku said. Naminé looked longingly at Roxas and Xion climbing into the other boat. “We can swap around on the way back, Naminé. And we’re all headed to the same place.” 

Sora rounded up his small rabble and called out, “Alrighty, guys! Who here is ready to row!” His group whooped in excitement. 

They all rowed out to the Island, each boat passing the time in their own ways. Riku’s boat was on the quieter side, taking in the brackish smell of the ocean and the sun rippling along the water. Kairi’s boat bustled with jokes and small talk, which Kairi had to interrupt every once in while to remind Goofy and Donald that they still needed to row at the same time aaaaaaaand they were going in circles again aaaaaand Donald was yelling at Goofy again aaaaaaand he just threw the oar in the water that they had to fish out again.

Sora sat at the bow of his boat, leading his little crew in various sea shanties that were belted out in varying degrees of harmony. All the while, he kept his hands hidden as his laughter rose above the chorus and carried across the shimmering waters. 

Kairi managed to finally come into the dock well after the other two boats. She had finally convinced Donald to let Axel take the port side oar; Goofy had jovially handed Isa the other. As their small vessel came alongside the dock and the crew had disembarked, Kairi set to mooring and bailing out her boat. Riku finished the last of his hitch and glanced down at her emptying yet another bucket of seawater over the side. “Did someone decided to take a swim?” He asked, noting Kairi’s drenched hair as she clambered onto the dock. 

She wrung out her bangs. “We had to go fishing for the oars way too many times, and we managed to bring on more and more water during every rescue attempt. We didn’t capsize, but there were a few times we were darn close.” Kairi noticed Riku mooring Sora’s boat as well. “Where’s Sora?” She asked.

“Had to go to the bathroom,” Riku said as he finished the knot. “We left his house pretty quickly, and he said he’d been-”

Kairi held up a hand. “Got it. Mr. Tiny Bladder lived up to his nickname.”

“So he handed the ropes to me as we docked.” Riku stood up. “Well, we’d better go join the others. He’ll join us when he’s done.”

As they strode down the dock, Kairi asked, “Does...does Sora seem a little ‘off’ to you?” 

“You mean how he didn’t run after us when we started racing? I don’t think that’s necessarily ‘off’ for him, he was just keeping Aqua company.” 

Kairi struggled for words. “I’m thinking of... more in the past week. Has he been in contact with you much? In person or over the gummiphone?” 

RIku thought for a moment. “Not really, but I’ve also been world hopping for the past week for various things. And I know he was grounded almost immediately after the battle, so he’s been a little secluded since then.” 

“Has he hugged you since we’ve been back?”

“What?”

“In a friendly way, like he always does. Has he given you a one-armed hug since we’ve defeated Xehanort? Did you see him run up to Donald and Goofy to give them a big group hug? Has he even given anyone a  _ high-five _ since we’ve gotten together?”

“I…” Riku seemed genuinely at a loss. That was odd. He finally offered halfheartedly, “He tackled En?” 

“Since when is Sora not a hugger?” Kairi asked. Riku didn’t answer, but began chewing his lip pensively.

They reached the edge of the beach. Naminé was moving between the small groups, searching for someone. She jogged towards Riku and Kairi. “Where’s Sora?” She asked while she smoothed out her skirt. 

“Occupied,” Kairi said. “What’s up?” 

Naminé pulled her sketchbook close to her chest. “I just wanted to know how everyone is doing after the battle in the Keyblade Graveyard… especially Sora. That initial loss must have taken its toll on everyone, and I can only imagine the stress Sora went through to get you all back.”

Initial loss? Kairi and Riku exchanged puzzled looks, and Riku shrugged. “I mean, we all came back in one piece. It was rough, sure, and we got a bit beat up, but we didn’t lose anyone”

“Except for Kairi towards the end, but she’s fine now.” 

Kairi stretched her back out uncomfortably as Riku spoke. Why did he have to say it like that? He didn’t understand how horrible that entire experience was; she could still feel ghost pain in her scar that connected her shoulder down to her opposite hip. After Xehanort struck her, Kairi had found herself floating in white light for what felt like ages. She remembered wanting to become one with the light, to let it overtake her, but something was keeping her from moving on. She remembered losing the memories of her friends, one by one, until she could only remember her own name. Then, a hand grabbed her. Warm. Familiar. “Kairi,” Sora’s voice had said. “Let’s go.”

Then, pain ripped through her as she was torn from the comfort of the light back and all of her memories bludgeoned her mind as they all came racing back. She didn’t cry out because it felt like she was  _ drowning _ . Kairi arched her aching back, reeling for air. “I’ve got you, Kairi,” Sora said calmly in her ear. He held her, righting her as she felt the sand of the Keyblade Graveyard beneath her feet once more. That was when she was finally able to gasp in a breath of air. Between the painful gasping and tearing eyes, Kairi saw that she was in front of Riku and the others. They were smiling. She had turned to Sora, confused. He had grinned at her.

And then they had both fainted. 

Axel had insisted that Kairi be checked constantly throughout their first week back, having Yen Sid cast random spells on her to check her “stability” or asking Ienzo to “analyze” her heart with the strange contraptions in his laboratory. Ienzo had declined, stating that he was focusing on finishing a suitable vessel for Naminé. Kairi had flat out refused and told Axel to stop treating her like a porcelain doll.

Naminé looked genuinely shocked. “I...Wait, what do you mean you two are the  _ only  _ ones? You all ‘went down’ at the very beginning of the fight. Xehanort attacked you all. Axel, Ven, and Aqua were felled by him; Goofy, Donald, and the king were defeated after Donald’s  _ megaflare _ spell; Kairi was injured protecting Axel from a heartless swarm; you, Riku, went down trying to protect Sora from the wave of shadows-”

“Wait, what?” Kairi asked. “Donald did a ‘what’ spell?”

Riku crossed his arms, muttering, “Protecting him from a wave of shadows? Naminé, what are you talking about? We arrived at the Keyblade Graveyard, found Xehanort, and were protected by that armor possessed by Terra’s heart. No one was injured until we made our way into that ancient maze.”

Naminé stuttered. “I- No, that’s not what happened. He...Sora had to save you all! I remember talking to him while he put himself back together in that other realm! Kairi, you were the one maintaining his form while he was there, remember? He saved your hearts from the Reaper heartless across the different worlds, and then you returned to the Keyblade Graveyard to fight Xehanort once more, this time with the Sentient armor’s help. Do you remember any of that?” 

Both Kairi and Riku shook their heads. 

Pulling her sketchbook closer, Naminé said quietly, “But I remember...Didn’t Sora say anything?”

“No. Maybe he forgot too?” Riku asked. 

At that moment, Xion ran to Naminé’s side and linked arms. “Naminé, I found the seashells I was telling you about! Sorry,” Xion said to Riku and Kairi. “But I’m going to borrow her for just a minute. C’mon!” 

As Xion led Naminé away, oblivious to Naminé’s quiet protests, Kairi asked, “What was that about?”

“I have no idea. Maybe we had our memories messed up during the battle? But why would only Naminé have those memories?” 

“Do you think Sora would remember?” 

“I mean, I forgot, you forgot, and I assume Aqua, Ven, and everyone else forgot, because I haven’t heard anyone else mention this. He probably forgot too.” 

“But Naminé just said he was the one to save everyone else.” Kairi frowned. “Seems a little odd that he’d be the one to forget. He never said anything after we got back though. Do you think he avoided mentioning it instead? He has been hard to see since we got back.”

“Because his parents grounded him from hanging out. That’s not avoidance, that’s just house arrest. You’re so set on something being off with him, you’re making some weird logical leaps. Besides, Naminé also said that you apparently maintained his form, but you don’t remember that either, do you?” 

Kairi shook her head. “No. I have no memory of-” 

Axel’s red frisbee nailed her right above the eye. Riku caught it as it fell from her face. “Kairi? Kairi? You okay?” He asked hurriedly. Roxas and Axel called out apologies from afar. 

Messaging her darkening mark, Kairi forced out a quick chuckle. “I’m fine.” She pointed to a thin scar above the other eye. “Not the first time I’ve been hit by a frisbee.” 

“Sora’s fault, not mine.” 

“No, it was definitely you.” She shooed Riku away. “Go have some fun with the frisbee guys. We’ll have a talk with Sora after everyone heads out.” 

“Kay,” Riku said. As he winded up, Riku said, “When he shows up again, make sure to spend some time alone with him. You two need another shot at the ‘paupu fruit’ moment. There’s a fresh batch on the small island. Thank me later.” 

“Hey! Who made you our-” Riku sent the disk back to Axel and ran fast away with a quick cackle. Kairi sighed. “...Matchmaker,” she murmured. She looked around in a huff. Where was Sora anyway? 

The sky soon darkened to a burnt orange. And still, wherever Kairi looked along the beach, she could not find Sora. Was he hiding in the seaside shack? Or the other cove? 

No one else seemed to notice his absence. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were starting on a new sand sculpture after the tide had erased their castles. Goofy and Donald had decided this had now become a contest, meticulously building a life-sized sand statue of their own. Naminé and Xion were making their way down the beach, examining the sand dollars and seashells that Xion would hold up to the sun kissed horizon and bounce the light off their edges. 

Riku caught the oncoming frisbee before it hit Kairi again. Kairi jumped; she’d been so focused on scanning the beach she hadn’t even seen it coming. 

He spun the disk on his finger, searching the beach for the next recipient. Kairi almost asked if he had seen Sora when Riku smiled and whistled towards the upper bridge connecting the beach to the small island. 

Sora was walking over that bridge. His silhouette hung over the restless crowd below, almost like a guardian angel casually gazing upon the world below. Lost in thought, he didn’t respond to the whistle, but his head snapped up when Riku called out his name. Riku sent the frisbee soaring towards him. Sora reached up to grab it.

The disk kept flying straight; from a distance, it looked like the frisbee had flown right through his fingers. 

“I got it!” Riku said, racing down the strip of beach. 

“No, I got it!” Terra and Roxas called out as they chased after him.

As Aqua and Mickey cheered them on, Ventus juggled Axel’s other frisbee. “They do realize there’s more than one of these, right?” He wound up and threw it to Isa, who passed it to Axel. 

Axel readied his next throw. “Kairi, go long!” Kairi shook her head as she began heading towards the bridge as well. Axel shrugged and hurled towards the unsuspecting Ventus. “Sorry Ven! Change of plans!” 

As she sauntered over the rickety planks, Kairi watched Riku, Terra, and Roxas chase the frisbee again. Aqua looked prepared to catch it this time. Behind her, Donald and Goofy finished their sand statue in the likeness of Donald. She smiled, but something still bothered her. 

Sora, of all people,  _ alone _ ? 

Sora was sitting on the tree, staring out at the water. He didn’t hear the creaking of the platform as Kairi reached the island. “Sora?” She asked. He didn’t answer. She giggled. Must be off in his own little dream world, breathing in the dried seaweed aroma of the incoming tide as he let his imagination wander. So typical. Kairi crept up behind and vaulted onto the trunk next right beside Sora. “HEYO!” 

Sora yelped, clutching at his chest. “Kairi! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Oh, come on! You’re too young to be having one of those.” Kairi sat herself on the trunk. “Besides, I wasn’t that sneaky. You need to be,” She used her best Yen Sid voice. “More vigilant. Constantly aware of your surroundings. Let no shred of  _ dust _ go unnoticed.” 

“Hm…” Sora gave a forced smile. He didn’t turn to look at her.

Kairi shooched close to him. Their fingers tickled each other. Kairi instinctively retracted her fingers; what if he felt through the illusion? “So...why so shy today? You’ve been gone most of the evening.”

“Hm…” 

“Where’ve you been? Oh wait, I know!” She leaned in closer and whispered, “You’re setting up a prank for Riku later, right? Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” 

“Hm…” Sora bit his lip but kept staring out. No smile. Not even a chuckle.

“Or maybe something... _ romantic?”  _ Kairi batted her eyelashes. “Setting up a little hideaway where we can get away and share some paupu fruit again?” 

He didn’t blush. He always blushed. Sora just kept looking out at the setting sun. 

“Sora? You okay? Ground control to Sora? Are you there?” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, finally! I had so much work with the end of school, plus the pandemic, plus normal life stuff... it has been quite hectic. I also had been planning on making this a longer chapter, but I instead decided to put out this first half to polish up the second while also producing more content, as I have been absent for a bit. 
> 
> Did I write "Power of Calling?" Yep! I know the games say "Power of Waking," but KH is an ancient entity that has a much different, older name for it (for good reason to!). 
> 
> And I have a confession: I am not a fan of Isa/Siax. He was a terrible person in KH2, a child abuser in 358/2 days... This made him a really, really good villain, and I loved fighting him in KH2! But I wasn't really happy about him showing up in the ending of KH3, and felt that his whole "redemption" thing was forced. I find it so hard to believe that Kairi would be so quick to allow him into her social circles since, you know, he held her prisoner in The World That Never Was. That doesn't mean he can't be a good person now, but I just couldn't fathom everyone being so quick to accept him as a friend after what he's done.
> 
> So... yeah. That's why Kairi doesn't like him. Had to get that off my chest.


	5. Fading Eventide

“Kairi, do you remember the evening before our adventure started? Just before darkness swallowed the Islands?”

“Sure?”

Sora closed his eyes, letting the glow of the sunset arm his face. “You remember how you talked about taking the raft, just the two of us?”

“Of course, but back then, I was just joking.” Kairi leaned in a little closer to read Sora’s expression. He didn’t turn towards her. “Are you remembering this fondly, or regretfully?” 

Sora let out a weak chuckle. “I wish we could do that. Just set sail. See where the edge of the world is. Chase the new tomorrow.”

“I mean, we still can. Our boats are right there, and with everyone’s combined efforts, we could probably travel pretty darn far, Sora.” Kairi giggled. “Or we don’t even need the boats, we could just fly! You can still summon Tinkerbell, right? Wait; I bet you don’t even need her anymore. I’ve seen how far you can soar on your own!” 

“...We can’t,” Sora said. 

Kairi sensed at the change in his voice. It felt like she was talking to someone else. She snorted and playfully hit Sora’s shoulder. “That sounds like a challenge! Tell you what, I’ll get Riku to moderate the start. You can fly, but I get the boat, deal?” She tapped her chin, trying to lean out as far as she could to see Sora’s face. He shifted his eyes away from hers. “I’ll have to rig up the sails for it to be a fair race, but then I can sail us both back after we’ve reached the edge. What do you say?”

Sora talked over her. “There are a lot of things I regret. A lot, and I can’t stop thinking about them. I don’t want to. I just want to focus on the good memories..but no matter how hard I try, every mistake that I’ve ever made, every choice that I regret, every little failure just keeps coming back.” He sniffed. Was he crying? Kairi was struggling to read him. He still refused to look at her. “I’m sorry for letting you die. I should have stopped Xemnas when he grabbed you, I should have been faster in getting to Xehanort.”

“I don’t blame you for any of that. We were in battle. Things happen fast. And you can’t be everywhere at once; everyone else needed you too. Besides, it’s my fault for not being trained enough-”

“I’m sorry for letting Axel kidnap you. And then Siax.”

“Sora, are you okay? This isn’t where I thought the conversation was going.” 

“I’m sorry for not returning your lucky charm.”

“It was meant to be yours anyway. There’s a reason I haven’t asked for it back.” 

“I’m sorry for failing to save you at Xemnas’ fortress. I’m so sorry for trapping you in my heart during our first adventure.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“Maybe I should have just left everything to the real masters. Then maybe none of this would have happened.” 

“Sora?” 

“But it’s okay. I deserve this. No one will miss me-” 

“Sora! You are  _ scaring _ me!” 

He flinched at that. Kairi continued, “Sora. What. Is.  _ Wrong?  _ You haven’t been acting like yourself at all today. You didn’t hug us, we haven’t seen you much since the final battle, and when we have seen you, it’s like you refuse to acknowledge that we even fought the reformed Organization! You always steer the conversations away from what happened that day. Now you’re talking like you’re on your deathbed? Sora, I know I’m not Riku, but you can still tell me if something is going on! We care for you.  _ I _ care for you, and will always be here for you no matter what. Please talk to me. Why won’t you talk to me?” Kairi pulled on Sora’s sleeve, trying to move his face into view. “And why won’t you look at me?” 

As Sora turned his face to Kairi, she gasped. The right side of his face...she could see through it, as if that entire half had turned to steam. Sora hid his grief behind a soft grin. “I’m not going to be able to see the rest of the sunset, Kairi. But at least I got to see most of it before I disappeared.”

Sora was fading before her eyes. Kairi’s chest began to tighten, her breathing becoming shallow and quick. 

Sora looked at his hand, which was barely there. “I overused the Power of Waking. When we first arrived at the Keyblade Graveyard, Xehanort was waiting for us. He beat us. Everyone died right before my eyes. Goofy, Donald, Riku… everyone. I was the last to go. Ripped apart by a horde of shadows. My body was destroyed. But-” He paused, “You probably don’t remember this, but you kept the rest of me intact. I was in the same place you were after Xehanort killed you. That place with an endless sky?” Kairi did not recall any of this, but Sora didn’t notice. “I managed to get myself back together. Then… then I started bringing back the others. I don’t know how. Even Yen Sid wasn’t sure how I managed to pull it off, but somehow I started to use the Power of Waking to start pulling people from death. Based on what Jiminy said, I focused on where their hearts and souls were, and fought off a Reaper to drag them back to life. I didn’t know there was a limit. I felt fine during the whole thing. Your heart then led me back to the Keyblade Graveyard and to everyone else.” 

Kairi couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had Naminé not questioned her earlier, Kairi would have thought Sora was making this all up. He continued, “And then when Xehanort killed you to finish the X-blade, I knew what I had to do. I’d already practiced six other times before. I could feel your heart and I dragged you back to life with the Power. But apparently, it was one use too many. Who knew there was a limit on that thing, am I right? I guess my heart wasn’t strong enough to use it seven times.”

Her hands were shaking. Kairi closed her eyes. As she did, she tried to sense Sora’s heart. It was a trick she used when Sora was on separate worlds. But when he was galaxies away, all she could do is pinpoint his general location. Maybe if he was right next to her, she could feel his heart’s strength. 

Even when they were so close, she could barely sense Sora’s heart. And it was fading by the second.

“You’re...Are you dying?” Kairi asked. That was all she could manage to say.

Sora looked back out at the horizon. “I guess that’s what you call it. Yen Sid avoided saying that word, but that’s probably it.” 

“‘Have you told anyone else about this? Riku? You two always tell each other everything.”

“I was going to tell you and Riku after the party..” Sora could only give her half a smile.The red of the sunset shone through his right cheek. “It just… sped up today. Yen Sid said I had a few weeks. He said I had time. Well,  _ more _ time. I just didn’t want to ruin anyone’s evening. You all deserved this. I didn’t want anyone to worry or to ruin anything.” He held up his fading hand. They both could barely see the outline in the air. “But it’s happening so fast.” 

“What?” Her heart was starting to race. “You thought that’s okay? Just...why?” 

Sora, still smiling, looked down at his hand beside Kairi’s. He gently placed his fingers over her’s. Squeezing, he whispered, “Sorry. I should have told you sooner.” 

No.  _ No. _ This couldn’t be happening. His chest was becoming translucent before her eyes. “You...you can’t leave.” Kairi’s words came out barely above a whisper as she tried to halt the tears. “You can’t leave me, we just got back together. You said we were going to go to Corona and see the lanterns. You said we could see Atlantica. And Neverland...we were going to fly together.” 

Sora tightened his grip on her hand. Could he feel the jagged skin beneath? “I thought we had more time,” he said. 

Her pulse pounded in her ears, deafening her to the waves beneath.It was becoming harder to breath. Hurriedly, Kairi looked back at the beach. They all stood at the water’s edge, watching the two of them. They couldn’t see Sora disappearing from their angle. Axel’s crew were giving her thumbs up. The others watched knowingly, clearly expecting the two to share a kiss against the blood red backdrop of the sun. Kairi wanted to cry out for help, to beckon them over,  _ anything _ , but her mind had forgotten how to form even the simplest of sentences; her body, how to move. Riku gazed proudly at them, and grinned at Kairi.

His grin vanished as the sun glinted off the tear falling from her eye. Riku jumped up to the bridge, much to the dismay of the others telling him to  _ give them space _ , or  _ don’t interrupt, it’s just getting good! _ “Everything good, guys?” He called out as he approached. 

“Please keep looking at me,” Sora said. Kairi turned back. Sora was looking at her like he had looked at all of the hundreds of sunsets before. His half-smile was genuine now. “There are many things I regret, but knowing you isn’t one of them.” Sora’s voice sounded so far away. “I’m so happy that I get to see you one last time. Tell Riku I’m so sorry. Donald and Goofy too. And thank you Kairi. I-” 

His lips moved, but no sound came out. Sora let out one last silent laugh as he faded away like the morning mists in sunrise. His necklace glinted in the sunlight as it fell, clinking against the bark before it was laid to rest in the golden sand. Kairi’s hand touched the tree trunk as Sora’s no longer held it. She brought up her empty hand, the one that looked normal. She watched as the white imprints from his fingers filled back with color. 

Riku’s footsteps stopped, the silence filled with the waves and wind blown sand. Then, the bridge creaked violently as he sprinted towards Kairi. He didn’t even bother to walk around the tree’s base, he slid into the trunk of the tree at the spot Sora had been sitting and threw his torso over, casting glances up, down, side, becoming more and more panicked each second passed without sora. 

His entrance was met with no resistance, for there was only air. Kairi could feel him looking at her while the sunset turned her tears into fire down her cheeks. “Kairi?” His voice was shaking. “Kairi? What just happened?”

_ I don’t know _ . 

“We… we were…” She tried to cough away the snot and tears filling her mouth. 

_ I don’t know. _

“He’s… He’s d… He just d…

_ I. Don’t. Know. _

“Kairi?” Riku reached down and held up Sora’s necklace. Sand twinkled on the chain like stars. “Where’s Sora? What just happened to Sora?”

_ He died.  _

“No...No wait!” Kairi finally screamed. Her fingernails dug into the soft bark, where his hands should have been. Every muscle in her body tensed as she screamed out to everything and nothing, “Wait!  _ WAIT! WAAAAAAIIIT!”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah... Finally! A short chapter, as this was supposed to be the end of chapter 4, but at the time I figured having a bit more polished, but shorter chapter would be nice. Aaaaaaand then life happened! Fanfic was pushed off to the side for a while, but I finally got it out!
> 
> (Just some author notes): I did consider really expanding this section and giving Kairi way more dialogue, but for everyone who remembers that KH3 ending, that whole thing was abrupt. And I think I like having it be out of left field for Kairi. We don't get to hear her say much- she literally has maybe a minute or two to process what's happening before it happens. No poetic lines, no romantic exchanges... she missed her chance. And Riku didn't even get one. 
> 
> Stay safe out there guys!
> 
> EDIT: Oh yeah! For maximum effect, listen to a piano version of "Dearly Beloved" or "Don't think Twice" while reading, like I did while writing! Enjoy!


	6. Rupture

No.

Kingdom Hearts rose quickly from their seat. No. His heart. Where had it gone? 

It had not been violent. Rather, it had been like a candle’s flame in the night: a bright light that shrank, and then snuffed gently out into calm, grey smoke. No sudden winds. No finger to press the flame out. The wick simply had lost the strength to burn.

Like the others.

No.

He had been alive. He had been there with his friends.

Kingdom Hearts sent their senses towards the island world, their entire being straining against the attempt. They did not care; panic overtook pain. Where was their child? 

They briefly felt the hearts of the other keyblade bearers before pain became very real again, and they lost concentration. Kingdom Hearts pulsed in agony and cursed Xehanort’s existence. Regaining composure, Kingdom Hearts moved away from their throne and let themselves fall through the mirror surface below, like a child diving into a clear spring. They met no resistance as they fell down towards the sky. 

The sky darkened to the color of wine as the clouds grew and became nebulas, strokes of rose, cerulean, and viridian amongst the stars. Kingdom Hearts’ essence passed through the interstellar clouds, an experience they had not felt in over a decade, and one they would have revelled in were they not beset by panic. They reached the nebula system harboring Destiny Islands. In different circumstances, Kingdom Hearts would have fawned over the cluster of worlds and rejoiced in how quickly the worlds had healed from losing their hearts to darkness. 

Kingdom Hearts focused on Destiny Islands and let their power flow over the world. Had any of the inhabitants looked up, they would have seen the outline of a heart-shaped moon in the sky. No one ever bothered to look up. 

They felt the hearts of the keyblade bearers, although their emotions were difficult to hear over the terror coming from the Princess’s heart. They could sense the presence of less powerful beings, and recognized one in particular with disgust: Xehanort’s right hand man, although whole again, was hard to miss. But no Sora. 

Frantically, Kingdom Hearts reached out to other worlds their child had visited. Traverse Town? Radiant Gardens? Twilight Town? Castle of Dreams? Neverland? Olympus Coliseum? Land of Dragons? Wonderland? They even searched Monstro, the whale that traveled the passages between worlds like currents. 

And still, they found nothing. Kingdom Hearts started to search other worlds, ones Sora had not visited yet. Newborn worlds. Dying worlds. Fragmented worlds. They searched every world in their power, save for one, until they had exhausted their search. Only then did they finally allow themselves to visit the world that would answer everything, the one world they dreaded. 

Kingdom Hearts waved their hand and brought their essence to the Keyblade Graveyard. Their light hovered at the edge of the mass of keyblades. Almost all keyblades came here when their masters were put to rest and an apprentice could not accept the blade. The only exceptions were if the blade were destroyed along with its master. 

Sora’s keyblade was in the center of the crossroads, the tip of the blade piercing the ground while the small keychain clinked in the gentle breeze. 

Grief tore through them like a knife. The Heart of All Hearts unraveled into thrashing tendrils of light. The only semblance of humanity they held onto was a deep blue colombina mask at the center of the growing mass. The world began to shake. 

_You were supposed to be the one,_ Kingdom Hearts sobbed. The air grew hot. It distorted the keyblades that built the horizons. _This wasn’t supposed to happen._ A torrent of wind grew at their feet. A crack formed below their eye and split their cheek, just as another originated from Sora’s keyblade down one path. _My last child._ Another crack spidered from the other eye. The earth jerked as another fissure formed down the opposite path. _Like all the others._ Two more cracks tore through the mask. The field of keyblades clattered as the last two paths were split down the middle; many blades fell, their keychains entangling with others and pulling those down as well. Sora’s blade remained upright in the field of fallen keyblades. _359...all gone._

_Why?_

The colombina of light shattered violently. Each piece began to fall, revealing a boy’s face contorted in anguish and rage. His face. Sora’s face. 

Kingdom Hearts screamed to the sky as the world convulsed around them. _WHY?_

_****_

She couldn't sense him anymore. She had always been able to sense him. Kairi frantically leapt from the tree trunk to the edge of the little island. Ignoring Riku’s questioning, Kairi extended her senses out again. Maybe he had just teleported a ways out. Maybe this was all a terrible prank and he was going to appear out a ways and start laughing and she would throw a seashell at him and tell it that it wasn’t funny and that he scared the living daylights out of them and then Riku would put him in a headlock and dunk his head under water and… and everything would be okay and they would laugh it off and then head back home.

She still couldn’t sense him. 

Xion’s cry cut through to Kairi’s ears. Riku and Kairi both jerked their heads towards the beach, where a crowd was forming around Roxas. He lay prone and unconscious. Namine dropped to her knees and held his face out of the sand. She looked almost as panicked as Kairi. She shouted something to the others, then out to Kairi and Riku. Kairi couldn’t register her words above the deafening heartbeat in her ears. 

She felt Riku’s hands on her shoulders and suddenly they were face to face. Was he saying her name? Blood pulsing in her ears drowned out his voice. His shaking hands gripping tighter into her skin. She didn’t feel any pain. Riku spoke again. Kairi felt a bit of spittle and realized he must be screaming. 

Kairi shoved Riku away and began running towards the spring. The others called out to her as she passed over them on the bridge, but it was like listening to music underwater. 

Their secret spot. It was an entrance to the Realm of Darkness. Maybe he’d gone there. 

But when Kairi reached the wooden door surrounded by children’s drawings, she felt nothing. Even when she dug her fingernails into the door and forced her sense

No Sora.

Kairi ran back out onto the beach, drenched in the sun’s red. Riku had paused by Namine. Roxas was illuminated by the glow of multiple healing spells. His chest barely rose between shallow breaths. Xion was checking his pulse while Naminé knelt at his head, tilting his head back to keep his airway clear. His lips had gained a blue tint. 

“What’s wrong?” Riku was asking Naminé. Kairi started to run past him to the water’s , but Riku caught her wrist. “Kairi, it’s going to be okay. Calm down. Hey- Look at me, Kairi!” Kairi felt Riku’s tight grasp on her arms and the force of his pull as he forced her back to face him. Riku spoke with restraint, his voice teetering on the edge of screaming, “It’s going to be okay. Do you hear me? We have to keep it together to figure out what’s going on. Naminé, what happened to Roxas?” 

Naminé brushed sand from Roxas’s mouth. “I don’t know. We were watching Sora and Kairi, and then when Sora vanished, Roxas just collapsed into me.” She lifted up his eyelids to check on the responsiveness of his pupils. Brown eyes stared back at them. 

Everyone gasped. Ventus immediately reached down and set his hand on Roxas’s chest. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

“What are you-?”

Ventus shushed Donald. After a few heartbeats, Ventus pulled back. “He’s in shock. And I can’t feel his connection to Sora. It must have severed. I don’t think the severed link injured him, but it certainly would be a shock to his heart.” 

Naminé looked up at Riku. “Sora died, didn’t he?” she asked softly. 

Kairi’s breathing became rapid before Naminé finished her sentence. She struggled for air. Kairi began to claw at her tightening chest with numbing fingers. Kairi twisted away from Riku’s grip. He snatched her wrist. “Kairi, you _have_ to calm down!” There was fear in those trembling words. Was he trying to convince her, or himself? Others were speaking to her. Calling her name. Hands reached out to her. Constricting hands. Hands coming at her like vipers. 

Air. She needed air. Kairi tore away from the hands and sprinted towards the water’s edge. Submerged to her knees, Kairi bent forward and gasped so hard her breath whistled. Air. Air. She was drowning in air. Her face was drenched in tears. The red sky looked back at her upon the ocean’s surface.

She braced her hands on her thighs, pushing her face towards the setting sun, and stretched her senses beyond the line where the sky met the sea. She and Sora were tethered. They were supposed to be tethered. They were always tethered. He wasn’t dead. He had been right there. He had returned when he became heartless. He had returned after he and Riku had gotten lost in the Realm of Darkness. He had returned after failing the Mark of Mastery. He always returned. 

Sora. Couldn’t. Be. Gone. 

Riku was calling her name. _This wasn’t happening_ . Riku was running towards her. _This couldn’t be real._

Grabbing her head, trying to stop, stop, _stop it,_ Kairi arched her back and shrieked. 

A storm of light erupted from her. The shock wave ripped through the incoming tide and sent water spraying like glass into the sky. It slammed into Riku with a torrent of sand and he was catapulted from the shore, crashing into the retaining wall up the beach. His head ringing, Riku propped himself onto his knees and, bracing against the wall, watched in horror at the sheer power whipping out from Kairi like a supernova. 

_****_

The worlds shook as before, but in a new way this time. Most would not feel the gentle shake of the earth beneath them. There were a few who found their strides briefly interrupted, but would attribute it to their own clumsiness. All ignored the sky changing into violent colors; only a select few can see the glow in Kingdom Hearts overtake the sun’s rays. Only one recognized the signs, for he had seen them hundreds of times, his eyes well trained at this point. 

He had seen the Heart of All Hearts grieve before, but to happen in concert with the heart of a Princess breaking? The Master of Masters rose from his seat, where he had been enjoying the sunset, and stared out at the violent beam of light rising from Destiny Islands. The light became entangled in the glare of the sky above, which had become stained with violet streaks that the Master knew was not a natural color. Kingdom Hearts had never defiled the skies like this before. This was more than a display of sorrow.

The Master of Masters crossed his arms, frowned, and said, “Huh... That’s new.” 

New was never good. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes... telling someone having a panic attack to "calm down"... works every time! You really have to wonder, though: what was the immediate aftermath in cannon supposed to be after Sora "disappeared"? The DLC never gave us that, and I kind of wish they had. 
> 
> For those wondering what a colombina mask is, it's a venetian mask. They're really cool; check them out!


	7. Aftershocks

It took every ounce of strength within Riku to not summon his keyblade and hurl it at the wizened mage sitting across from them. Instead, he gnawed on his lip until a tinge of iron graced his tongue, all while listening to Yen Sid’s irritatingly calm explanation. The others were listening sorrowfully to Yen Sid’s explanation. Some bent their heads like a funeral precession. Others simply listened as if they were at another briefing. Only Riku, Roxas, and Xion refused to sit still. Roxas kept rubbing at his changed eyes, Xion kept rocking back on her heels or bouncing on her toes, and Riku?

Well, he couldn’t decide what to do with his hands. Interlaced, in pockets, on hips, rubbing the back of his neck, they just couldn’t stay in one place. He tried clenching them again, but the pain of his fingernails digging into his palms couldn’t distract him enough from the anger building up in his chest. 

Riku glanced over at Kairi, who was slumped over in a chair outside the ring of Keyblade wielders. Her eyes were glazed over as if she had lost her heart again, but Riku had been assured her demeanor was only because she was extremely fatigued. He checked to make sure her fingers were still exploring and rubbing Sora’s necklace. They were. They pressed into the crown’s tips, threatening to prick Kairi, but they were moving. Which was a sign she was still here and with heart. Riku allowed a small sigh of relief escape as he struggled to refocus on Yen Sid’s droning. 

The old man was _still_ talking about the stupid “strength of heart” issue? 

“To clarify,” Riku suddenly interrupted, causing Yen Sid to halt in his explanation with a hiccup-like sound. “Sora overused the Power of Waking?”

Micky looked like he meant to scold Riku, but a motion from Yen Sid calmed him and the King settle back into his respectful stance. “That is correct, Riku,” Yen Sid said. “As I said, although Sora had a strong heart, the strain of pulling back seven hearts to the realm of light, combined with his lack of training, caused his heart to give out. The mechanism by which he utilized the power-” 

“Yeah, okay, fine,” Riku said, with a little more venom than he had anticipated. “But why wasn’t that mentioned earlier? You know, that whole plan about getting Sora to obtain the Power and all of that? Or- crazy idea, but bare with me- when I was using the Power of Waking to save him after our Mark of Mastery exam? Or before the king and I went into the Realm of Darkness with the intent of using that power to save Aqua?”

“Riku!” The king, Goofy, and Donald all gasped. 

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Riku turned on them. “But I don’t exactly recall anyone mentioning that using the Power of Waking _could destroy our hearts!_ I feel like that’s important- no, essential information.”

“At no point did we expect to have one of you use the power multiple times in succession.” Yen Sid was still unusually calm. 

“And yet apparently you knew enough to know that it was still a possible outcome.” Riku covered his face in his hands for a moment, trying to muffle the frustrated scream at the back of his throat. “My best friend just disappeared and I could have stopped it!”

“You couldn’t have stopped it,” Aqua said.

“Yes, I could have! Maybe I couldn’t have stopped him from using it to save us from when we apparently lost the first time, but right before he used it the last time, any one of us could have taken his place! He didn’t have to use it ‘one time too many’ like Yen Sid keeps saying; Micky could have done it! Aqua could have done it! I…” Riku let the words trail for a moment, “I should have done it.” 

“You could not have done what Sora achieved, Riku,” Yen Sid said. “Do not blame yourself.” 

Riku glared at him. “Why not? It’s just the Power of Waking. That’s all he was using, right? If he was right on the cusp of going overboard with the power, we would have known and could have saved him. Easily. If we had known that there was a limit, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

Yen Sid closed his eyes as if to meditate. “Riku, there is the matter of the strength of the bond necessary to accomplish-”

Riku began again, “We get it. Sora had strong bonds with everyone. But he barely knew Aqua and he was able to save her. Sure, my bond with Kairi isn’t the same as what Sora has- had. But she and I are close friends! You’re implying that Sora’s bond with Aqua is stronger than the one between Kairi and me, which doesn’t make sense.” 

Kairi stopped fingering Sora’s necklace and looked up at the sound of her name. Her tired eyes held resentment. 

“Had you been listening, Riku-”

“I’m not.” Riku said. “I’m not listening. I’m done talking. We need to start working on getting Sora back. Stop standing around, and let’s go find him.”

“Riku, we cannot do such a thing.”

“Yes we can. Sora did.” 

Yen Sid rose. Riku hadn’t appreciated how much the wizard towered over everyone until Yen Sid was staring down his nose at him. “There is a time, young keyblade master,” Yen Sid said. “To act. But action without comprehension leads to folly, as demonstrated by Sora’s actions. Had you been _listening_ , you would know that your defeated hearts were teetering on the brink, where the thin borders of the realms of sleep and death meet. Sora, on the other hand, has crossed that line to the other side. Such is the price of overusing the Power of Waking. So, quell your urge to act, and instead understand that this is the time to listen, so as to avoid more unnecessary loss.” 

Riku let the words echo in the silence. The others were holding their breath. Roxas tried to stifle a gulp. Then, Riku stepped forward, tilted his face towards Yen Sid, and said slowly, “Funny. I must be catching up to you in years, because if I remember correctly, you told Sora to ‘follow his heart,’ not ‘ponder over information that _you_ never gave us.’” 

Yen Sid’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps you are, for your hearing must be fading as well. A master with more youthful ears would have heard all of his questions answered, and not be asking such foolish questions.” 

Riku started to object, but then he saw Mickey. And Donald. Goofy. Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Axel… All of them. They all were looking at him with fear. No, pity. They all agreed with Yen Sid. They had accepted Sora’s fate. And he must look like a naive child to them right now. “...You cowards,” Riku growled at them. 

Terra stepped forward to placate Riku, but Riku sent him back with a warning glare. “Don’t.”

“Riku,” Terra said. “Calm down.”

Darkness flared around Riku’s fists and up his arms. His vision turned gold. “I AM AS CALM AS I’M GONNA GET,” he yelled. The entire room stepped back. Riku began pointing at each of them. “Sora sacrificed himself, for all of you! And now you’re just going to stand there and accept that? If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror right now!”

“Riku…” Mickey reached for him. 

Riku shoved the hand away from him. “I’m done here.” Keeping his eyes locked on the door, he stormed out of the room. Everyone parted for him. He could feel their condescendingly compassionate stares burning into his back. Except Kairi; he saw her from the corner of his eye glaring at the rest of the group behind him.

While he closed the door, he could hear Yen Sid address the others, “Give him time. He has much to process, more so than any of you right now.” 

Storming down the spiral staircase, Riku let his thoughts ricochet around in his head. Why weren’t they using the power to get Sora back? They had four keyblade masters, any one of them could try it. Wait, did Terra count? Okay, three plus Terra. Maybe he just had to use the Power. But how? When he last used it, Sora had been in front of him. To be honest, that was how he had thought the Power had worked: someone with a slumbering heart was in front of him, he pointed his keyblade at them, and poof! He activated the Power of Waking. That’s what he had expected to do if they found a comatose Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, although he never had to use it. Maybe he could try, but how would he find Sora’s heart? Kairi? But she said that she couldn’t sense him; she had been mumbling that during their entire trip here. How had Sora done it? 

Wait. This was Sora he was talking about. Sora probably just knew where their hearts were. “Strong heart connections” and stuff. Figures. 

Before he knew it, Riku was pushing the door open onto the small terrace of the floating island. The air felt cold. He zipped up his coat and shoved his hands in his pockets. Now what? 

Footsteps behind him, but lighter. Familiar. Riku turned around to see Kairi slowly forcing her feet to follow him out the door. “Kairi?”

She met his eyes. “Don’t look so guilty,” She said. “I wanted to rage out of there for the last half hour.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I want a good cry and a nap.”

“I mean your heart. Yen Sid said that your heart was broken.”

Kairi let out a blast of air between her lips. “You mean that whole lecture about ‘my heart of light becoming unstable’ due to ‘emotional stress’ and is now ‘fragile’?” She shrugged weakly. “From all that I can tell, ‘unstable’ is his favorite word. And I don’t feel like my powers are going to explode again, so crisis averted for now.”

Riku nodded, and then hastily added, “Not that I don’t care about how you feel in general. I didn’t mean to say it like that. I care how you feel-feel to.”

Kairi let out a squeaky snort. “No, I get you. You don’t want someone else disappearing because their heart gave out again. I’m not ready to talk about that just yet.”

They could hear the clatter of the others descending the tower. “I want to get out of here now,” Kairi sighed.

“Me too.” Riku tilted his head towards the gummi ship. “Shall we?”

“I was expecting a little bit of a pushback, like telling me that we can’t leave them without a ship or something.” 

“The king has his own ship, and Aqua’s crew has their own way of travel. Anyway, we have to head back home as soon as possible, and I don’t have the energy to argue with the others about what I’m about to do.”

They climbed into the ship and slipped quietly into their seats. As Riku typed in the coordinates for the Islands, Kairi said slowly, “Wait, what exactly are you going to do?”

Riku kept his eyes straight ahead. “I have to keep my promise to Sora.”

They entered the ship without another word. Neither spoke as Riku entered the coordinates into the flashing console for home. Kairi didn’t quip at his horrendous driving as the ship’s wings grazed small meteor debris . They let the hum of the engine speak for them as Destiny Islands came into view and the ship came in for a smooth landing.

Outside, the stars were starting to decorate the skies. Water against the sand whispered somber tones into the cool, briny night air. From the beach, each solitary lamp cast a warm glow like a golden globe with the fireflies dancing at its edges. 

As they walked from one light to another, their shadows stretching and contracting in their wake, Kairi finally said, “...Closing the door to darkness?”

RIku jumped a little. He had become accustomed to the silence. “What?”

“What you promised Sora. I’ve been trying to figure out what he would have asked you to do.” 

Riku let his eyes wander to the pavement. “I wish.” 

They turned at the edge of the flowers, their buds closed for the night. Neither Kairi nor Riku tried to remember racing to the edge of these same flowers just hours earlier. “Is it something to do with the Hallow Bastion Restoration Committee?” Riku shook his head. “Did he want you to thank Namine?” Another head shake. “Did he want you to reconcile with your mom?” A warning glance. “Guess not. Does it have anything to do with En?” A hesitant shrug. “Did he want to give her something?” No response. “...Did he want you to explain all of this to his mom?” A nod. “His dad?” Another nod. “About everything?” Eyes closed, punctuated with a sigh. 

Kairi let out a quiet, sharp gasp. “Oh…”

They reached Sora’s house. Riku gripped the cold door handle. He could smell the lingering aroma of cod and onions. They must have had a late dinner, expecting Sora to have joined them by now. They probably had a plate still waiting for him. Haru’s whistling danced between Aki’s improvised singing and En’s asking if they could have the ice cream _now_ before Sora got back. Riku bit his lip. Aki hadn’t been able to talk to Sora before they had left. 

Deep breath. He turned the knob and opened the door. 

Wet silly string ensnared Riku’s face. En was on the other side, her headphones up and megaphone out. Her father’s vintage boombox was at her feet, prepped for assault. The second Riku came into full view, En flicked the switch of her boombox with her big toe. Riku staggered a bit against the onslaught of bursting beats and En beginning to sing into her megaphone, “B-U-S-T-E-D, YOU ARE BUST-” 

She let the megaphone drop to her side. Her gaze flicked from Riku and Kairi. Riku, Kairi, but no Sora. With her foot, En turned down the volume of the boombox and tried to hide the silly string in her free hand. 

“EN!” Her mother stomped out from the kitchen and down the entryway. “What did we say about the volume? We have neighbors with little kids trying to sleep. And you, Sora, do you have any idea what time it…” Aki slowed as she noticed only two out of the three. She studied Riku’s pained face. “...Is.”

“About time!” Haru called from the kitchen. “I saved the last fish for you! I had to fend off your mom for hours.” He leaned out into the hallway, a steaming cup of tea cupped in his hands. “We didn’t know if you were eating at your meet-up, so I prepared for a hungry teen.” His smile flicked into a puzzled frown when he noticed only Riku and Kairi. “Where’s Sora?” 

Riku gulped. He wasn’t ready.

****

Aki and Haru let Riku’s story sink in as they sat across from him in the living room. They had sent En upstairs before he could start explaining Sora’s absence, so Riku only needed to devastate two thirds of Sora’s family. Thank goodness for small miracles; Riku doubted that he could face En when she found out.

Aki hadn’t said a word the whole time. Her lips pursed together the minute Riku had started talking. She crossed her arms tightly and stared straight ahead at Riku and Kairi while Riku spoke, sitting erect in her chair. She was always a hard read for Riku, but now he couldn’t tell if she was shocked, angry, or just not processing his words yet. 

Haru was more animated, shifting from one position to the next in his chair as Riku’s story went on. Tears began lacing his cheeks the minute Riku told them the news, and they still kept flowing even now. His fingers constantly touched his face, from his lips, to his hairline, to his temple, to his good eye, to his ear. Every once in a while, Haru opened his mouth as if to interject or ask, but swallowed his question and went back to chewing his lower lip. 

Kairi kept her eyes on the floor. She’d turn her head away whenever Riku mentioned her in his retelling, but never chimed in.

When it seemed like Riku had finished, Aki let out a shaking breath. “That’s… quite a story.”

“Do you not believe me?”

“I wouldn’t, had the Islands not been attacked by walking shadows a year or so ago, followed by an entire year of everyone forgetting that Sora ever existed.” Aki thought for a moment, and added, “Well, almost everyone. So yes, I guess I believe you, despite how ridiculous it all sounds.” 

Riku had completely forgotten about that. Had it really only been just over a year since that fateful night when their world was taken by darkness?

Haru propped his forehead against his hands as he spoke, “So, the past few weeks have been you guys getting ready to fight this… Zeyanor?”

“Xehanort, but yeah.”

“And there were thirteen of him?” 

“That’s one way to look at it.”

“...And there were seven Sora's?”

“What? No, just seven of us fighting for the light.”

“But you said,” Haru began tracing in the air with one hand, as if to connect the conspiracy map he had mentally constructed. “That Sora had copies of himself and one person inside of him who counted as him?” 

“No, Ventus was dormant inside Sora’s heart, but they aren’t the same person. Xion came from a replica being embedded with Sora’s memories, and Roxas is Sora’s nobody that was created when he released Kairi from his heart. He has two Nobodies, but they aren’t copies of him. Three, if you consider Namine, but that’s even more complicated.” 

“But I thought you said they were heartless?”

“No, Nobodies just don’t have hearts; Heartless are hearts that have fallen into darkness.” 

“But then, they still have hearts and the Nobodies don’t?” Haru let out a pained groan. “Are you following any of this?” He asked Aki. 

Aki kept a straight face as she said, “The big thing I took away from all of that is that Sora’s dead because he saved everyone from an insane old man.”

“Yeah. It’s a bit of a mess,” Riku forced out a chuckle. “I’m still struggling with the exact details there myself.”

“And you, Kairi?” Haru sniffed and glanced over at Kairi, who had curled up in the corner of the couch with her eyes reading the folds in the curtains as she listened. “You’ve been unusually quiet over there. How are you doing in all of this?” 

Kairi said softly, “It should have been me. I’m so sorry.” 

“Don’t,” Aki said, quickly rubbing away the moisture brimming at the edge of her eyes. “Don’t. We’re not playing the blame game here. You don’t get to say you deserved to die. What fifteen-year-old thinks they need to say that? 

“Aki?” Haru asked. 

Aki closed her eyes, allowing a little hiccup to escape in place of a sob. “He rushed out the door before I got to see him today. I never got to say goodbye.” 

Haru went to her side. Wrapping one arm around her and interlacing his fingers with hers, he looked at Riku and Kairi. “...I’m sorry. You should go.”

Riku nodded. Riku and Kairi hurried back to the main entryway. As they reached the door, a sniff came from above. En was crouched in the darkness at the top of the stairs, her headphones around her neck and her arms wrapped around her knees. She rocked back and forth, her reddening eyes damp and locked on the shadows cast by the railing. 

Of course she was listening the whole time. Riku let his gaze fall in shame. They were all stupid for thinking she’d just gone upstairs without eavesdropping. “En?” He called up to her.

En pulled her knees in closer. “I hate you,” she muttered. 

Riku just nodded half-heartedly. “That makes two of us,” he said. 

Kairi started to protest, but Riku shook his head. “Kairi, let it go.”

“But-”

“Let it go. She has every right to be angry at us.” Riku opened the door. He could hear Aki start to let out her tears behind him. As they left the front porch through the flower forest that had earlier been painted with vibrant colors and where now cast in the silky yellow from the windows. _I probably won’t be able to come back here ever again,_ Riku thought. 

Kairi pulled her jacket close against the brisk night air. “You didn’t deserve that.”

“Yes I did.” 

The crickets played a symphony for them as they followed the lights to Kairi’s. It was better that way, dropping her off first. Riku figured he would wander along the seaside until dawn by himself. He wouldn’t be able to sleep. Neither would Kairi, but he needed to be alone for a while. 

They stopped at the walkway leading to Kairi’s house. “You good?” Riku asked softly.

“Yeah. I’ll just go around the back. My moms think that I’m out late with you and… you know, getting a midnight ice cream run. They’re expecting me around this time.”

“Same.”

Kairi arched an eyebrow. “Ten munny on your mom being none the wiser ‘cause she’s on night shift.” 

He tried to laugh. “I don’t have my wallet with me. Pay you tomorrow?” 

They both waited for Sora to offer to pay Kairi in Riku’s place. Nothing but the symphony of chirps on all sides. “We can’t tell them about this, can we?” Kairi asked.

“Our parents? No.” 

“When do you think people will start to catch on?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead. I guess it depends on how much Aki and Haru keep to themselves.”

Kairi grimaced. “Shoot. We forgot to tell them about the whole ‘world order’ mantra, didn’t we?”

“Aki probably assumes that’s the case, and Haru will probably follow her lead. And En’s not much of a talker when it comes to that kind of stuff.” He paused. “I hope.” 

More silence. “They’ll have to make up a reason for why Sora’s gone?”

“Kairi, can we please stop talking about this?” Riku pinched the bridge of his nose. “I haven’t thought that far ahead, and really don’t want to. I just want _five_ minutes to process this day.” 

“Sorry.” Kairi pulled up her hood and started down her walkway. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Call me on the gummi phone if you need anything.”

“Ditto for you,” Riku called after her. He waited until she had slipped through the back door. Did her folks wait up all night for her like Haru and Aki? Or could she just walk in without fear of meeting them, like he did most nights? Riku pulled up his own hood and began walking back down to the beach. 

Someone was playing a ukulele near the shopping district. Whoever it was, they weren’t very good at it; one of their strings was out of tune. And off beat. The night vendors let their smiles slip at every musical faux pas as Riku passed them. Someone came up to him, offering him a “exquisite island floral bouquet, unique to only this isle in the archipelagos-” Their pitch was cut short when they saw Riku’s eyes glaring at them with murderous intent, and they sped away to the other side of the square. No one else dared approach him after that. Even the seagulls hurried away from him. 

Now that he had a moment to himself, the only thing Riku could think was: now what? 

His gummiphone buzzed. Riku held it up and saw a message addressed to Goofy, Donald, and him.

**Kairi: Hey, hope you all got home safely.**

**Kairi: Any chance we could let out some steam at Olympus Coliseum?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooo boy! Trying to write kind of a downer chapter during the chaos of starting up school online and during a pandemic was a bit of a nightmare. I kept holding off on finishing it just because it's not the happiest mindset to be in. Thankfully, we get to do some traveling next chapter! And we get a bit Riku reverting back to his KH1 self, where he had a bit more of an attitude and would talk back. This isn't permanent, but his reaction with Yen Sid was a deliberate reverting to his younger self.
> 
> Also, Haru is totally me trying to piece everything together in this game series sometimes :) I love these games, but it does feel like the conspiracy theory board with all of the red thread criss-crossing everywhere.
> 
> Stay safe out there friends!


End file.
